Mario & Sonic: Partners in Time
by FairyTalePrincess16
Summary: A group of aliens called the Shroobs has attacked the Mushroom Kingdom's past in order to take over it. After Peach and Amy's disappearance, Time Holes showed up at the Castle by the Cobalt Star, taking Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails to the past. Teaming up with their younger selves, the heroes search for the Cobalt Shards to save the Mushroom Kingdom's past and future.
1. Alien Attack!

**Following up my saga with its second story! As you definitely know, this is a remake of _Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time_ with Sonic characters in the middle. There's going to be some differences to this story compared to my Superstar Saga story, but just like its predecessor, a new female guide will show up to assist the main heroes. She won't show up until chapter 4, though. **

**With that said, let's enjoy Partners in Time! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Alien Attack!**

 _Really, really long ago…way far out in space…in a dark, dank place shunned by starlight…there was this creepy planet floating alone… The beings of this world were…creepy. They spent their time staring creepily into space. Just creepy daydreamers, right? Wrong. They were searching. Searching for a new home. At last, they fixed their creepy gazes on a distant world, a land of beauty and peace…_

" **#######!"** an unknown alien chuckled evilly.

* * *

 _ **Mushroom Kingdom's past…**_

At Peach's Castle, we can see a younger Toadsworth welcoming three familiar friends. These friends were all animals: two of them were hedgehogs, one male, around 7 years old and the other female, around 6, and the other one was a two-tailed fox around 5 years old. All of them also had black eyes.

The male hedgehog had light-blue fur, peach skin, a round belly, white gloves, white socks showing the folds only, and red sneakers with white stripes and gold buckles. The two-tailed fox had yellow fur, a white furred tummy, white gloves with gray fasteners, white socks with blue fasteners and red sneakers with white tips. Finally, the female hedgehog had light-pink fur, peach skin, a red headband, a green t-shirt with a white collar, an orange folded skirt, white gloves, and baby blue shoes with orange laces.

They were of course Sonic, Tails and Amy, in their young appearances. They approached Young Toadsworth and he greeted:

"Oho! Young Masters Sonic, Tails, and Mistress Rose! I've anxiously awaited your arrival!"

"Let me guess; the Mario Brothers and Princess Peach want to play with us again, right?" Young Sonic guessed.

"Yes, indeed, they all crave playmates, I'm afraid. Sometimes, they're rather…tantrummy. I can't tell you how they all missed you so much ever since you played with them last year during your month of visiting the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"Yeah, I can totally imagine that…" Young Tails said embarrassed.

"They're all waiting for you at the throne room. Please go to them at once!"

"We're on it, Toadsworth!" Young Amy replied with a smile.

The trio walked in the halls of the castle until they finally reached the throne room. There, they saw that the floor was filled with toys that belonged to the baby Mario Bros. Speaking of which, we can see the baby brothers of around 2 years old playing separately on the floor while the baby princess of around 1 year old was watching them from her pink baby carriage.

"Guys! We're here!" Young Tails called playfully.

The babies heard his call and cheered, seeing that their best friends have finally arrived. With that, Young Sonic went to play with Baby Mario, Young Tails went to play with Baby Luigi, and Young Amy went to play with Baby Peach.

"How about we play with the rattles first, Peach?" Young Amy pulled out two rattles; one red and one pink and handed the pink one to Baby Peach.

"Hehehehehe!" Baby Peach giggled as she and Young Amy were shaking their rattles together.

Baby Luigi was riding on Young Tails' back. The younger brother was having so much fun with his fox friend as they both were giggling together. Soon, Baby Luigi saw his favorite Teddy Bear on the floor.

"Ooh, ooh! Teddy! Gimme, gimme!" Baby Luigi begged as he points to his Teddy Bear. Young Tails then eyed at the Teddy Bear on the floor next to him that Baby Luigi was directing to.

"You want it, Luigi? Here you go!" Young Tails picked up the Teddy Bear and handed it to Baby Luigi.

The young fox then helped Baby Luigi sit on his lap and watched him cuddling and snuggling his Teddy Bear.

"Aww…" Young Tails smiled at him.

Young Sonic was playing with Baby Mario by building a tower with the toy cubes. They worked together to finish it. Then, Baby Mario picks up a toy mallet and whacks the tower, demolishing it.

"Bam! Bam! Bam!" Baby Mario hits the tower until it demolishes.

"Heh heh heh, you sure wanted to destroy that tower, huh?" Young Sonic chuckled.

"Yep! When I grow up, I really want to wield a heavy hammer to break everything in my path!" Baby Mario exclaimed.

"A heavy hammer? Are you sure you'll be able to wield one?" Young Sonic asked.

"Mmhm! Trust me, Sonic!" Baby Mario nodded.

"Well, for now on, it's better for you to use a toy mallet, because normal hammers are too dangerous for babies, you know." Young Sonic said.

"I know that." Baby Mario replied.

"BWAH HA HA HA!" suddenly, a familiar laugh came out of nowhere.

"Hey! That laugh…!" Young Sonic hissed as he and the rest stood up.

Just then, Baby Bowser jumped down from the ceiling and snatched Baby Peach in front of their eyes!

"WAAAAAH!" Baby Peach wailed.

"PEACH!" Young Amy cried out. "Why, you…!" she growled at Baby Bowser.

"BWAH HA HA HA!" Baby Bowser laughed evilly. "I, Prince Bowser, am taking Princess Peach with me! You all can scram!"

"Absolute nonsense!" Young Toadsworth came into the room and glared at Baby Bowser. "I rather think that you'll do NO SUCH THING! EN GARDE!"

However, Baby Bowser shot out flames from his mouth, burning Young Toadsworth's mushroom cap before he faints.

"BWAH HA HA HA!" Baby Bowser laughed.

"Toadsworth!" everyone except Baby Mario and Baby Peach cried out as they went to the downed Young Toadsworth. Baby Mario, angered that his enemy had not only stolen Baby Peach but also burned Young Toadsworth, went in front of Baby Bowser and stood in his fighting stance.

"Your turn, Super Diaper Bro!" Baby Bowser smirked at him.

"I don't think so!" Baby Mario growled and jumped over the flames when Baby Bowser tried to burn him next.

"Oh no! How dare you!" Baby Bowser shouted like a frustrated child while stomping his foot.

Baby Mario took the chance and stomped Baby Bowser's head, leaving him dazed, and…

"Yoink!" Young Sonic taunted playfully as he does a Spin Jump at Baby Bowser's back and managed to knock Baby Peach off of him. Young Amy came in and caught her in time before she hit the ground.

"What the?! Hey!"

"Phhbbbttt!" Young Sonic blew raspberry.

"GRRR!" Baby Bowser growled.

"Finish him, Mario!" Young Sonic grinned.

"Okey Dokey!" Baby Mario grinned back and does one more stomp at Baby Bowser's head, defeating him.

"Urrgh… Blaagh…" Baby Bowser gagged as he tumbles on the ground. "I'm… I'm a PRINCE! I can't lose to you! Bluuuuuuurgh…"

"Woohoo! I did it!" Baby Mario cheered happily.

"Hahaha! Great job, big bro!" Baby Luigi appraised while giggling.

"Looks like you were able to beat Bowser without our help!" Young Tails exclaimed.

"Yeah! But, still… It bothers me how Bowser always comes to crash the party at the worst possible time." Young Sonic rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, some strange noises came in and the castle shook a bit with the windows showing a rainbow limbo, catching everyone's attention.

"Wait… What was that?" Young Sonic questioned, looking around.

 ***BOOOOOOM!***

All of a sudden, a loud crash was heard from outside, and the whole castle shook violently with pieces of debris falling from the ceiling, startling everyone!

"GAAAAH! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Baby Luigi shouted in panic.

Outside, we can see four UFOs blasting the castle's walls, destroying them. Then, the four UFOs flew off, alongside another one.

However, the clouds above opened up, revealing dozens of UFOs! All of them were making their way to the castle…

* * *

 _It seems that the past is in trouble…_

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **You can obviously see the _Sonic Generations_ reference here; the inclusion of Classic Sonic, Classic Tails and Classic Amy! I decided to refer them as 'Young' only, so that I wouldn't have to refer the adult Sonic, Tails and Amy as 'Modern' every single time in my story. I really wanted to include dialogue for Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, since they can speak some lines in the spin-off Mario games they've appeared. I won't make Baby Peach speak, though, since she appears much younger than Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in the game.**

 **Possibly the only major difference comparing this story to its predecessor is the fact that there won't be many Sonic characters showing up in this story, because I couldn't find a way to fit them into my story. So the only Sonic characters that will show up here are Sonic, Tails and Amy.**

 **Quite a short chapter, but definitely a good start, I guess! Next chapter showing the present day coming soon! Please review.**


	2. Blast to the Past

**Finally done with the second chapter! I was taking care of my little cousin... :P**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Blast to the Past**

 _ **Meanwhile, at the present day…**_

It has been a year since Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails saved the Beanbean Kingdom from the clutches of Cackletta and Fawful. Today, on the month when Sonic, Tails and Amy made their visit to the Mushroom Kingdom as always, some news spread through the kingdom:

' _Mushroom Kingdom news flash!_

 _Famed inventor Prof E. Gadd has completed his time machine! The machine's energy source? This amazing Cobalt Star! The unveiling took place at Peach's Castle and was seen by luminaries from near and far. Princess Peach and Amy Rose were reportedly overjoyed by the contraption… So overjoyed, in fact, that they promptly set off on a voyage to the Mushroom Kingdom's past! Of course, the princess' able ward Toadsworth is beside himself with worry. Details at 11!'_

The scene shifts to the throne room of Peach's Castle, where Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails and E. Gadd watched Toadsworth filled with worry as he called out loud:

"PRIIIIIINCESS! MISTRESS ROOOOOOSE! Please return!" he let out a sigh to try to calm down before continuing: "I say… I am simply beside myself with worry!"

"Heh heh heh!" E. Gadd laughed. "No need to worry yourself. My machine's safe as can be. Why, there's a 99.999999999% chance the princess and miss Rose will return!"

"THE HORROR!" Toadsworth shouted in a dramatic tone before fainting.

"T-Toadsworth?!" Luigi stuttered as he and Tails went to the downed old Toad.

"Toadsworth! Wake up! Toadsworth!" Tails tried to wake him up, but nothing worked.

"Whoa, he worried so hard, he KO'd himself!" Sonic said surprised. "Now how are we going to wake him up?"

"If I'm correct, a Refreshroom might do the trick." Mario said. "I'm pretty sure Toadsworth has one in his room. Maybe I should head there and get it."

Mario left the throne room and went to Toadsworth's room, where he found an item block containing the Refreshroom, which was a green-capped mushroom with stars instead of dots.

* * *

Back at the throne room, the Toads place Toadsworth on a hospital bed and a Toad Doctor was examining him.

"Toadsworth!" one of the Toads called out. "Any final words? Can I have your cane?"

"Princess… Mistress Rose…" Toadsworth groaned quietly.

"Doctor! SPEAK, man!" the other Toad demanded the Toad Doctor. "Will Toadsworth recover?"

"Oh, the prognosis is grim… I'm afraid our dear Toadsworth has worried himself into a state of shroomshock. Without the restorative properties of a Refreshroom, there's naught we can do." The Toad Doctor said.

"Not to worry! Mario is here to save the day!" Mario came into the throne room while jumping in joy and showing the Refreshroom.

The Refreshroom levitates into the air before dissolving into small bits and they fell into Toadsworth. Eventually, Toadsworth's body glowed gold, and…

"HUZZAH!" he cheered as he stood up from his hospital bed.

"Hey! It worked!" Tails exclaimed.

Suddenly, the whole room shook and the group heard something coming from behind. Eventually, a yellow and magenta vortex appeared in the sky and out of it came E. Gadd's time machine and it crashed into the throne room. For some reason, the time machine appeared wrecked with its glass domes cracked.

"Well, take a gander at that! The time machine's returned!" E. Gadd exclaimed. "Something's amiss, though… What could've gone wrong?"

Luigi helped Toadsworth approach the machine by pushing the hospital bed towards it.

"Oh, Princess! Mistress Rose! Welcome home!" Toadsworth exclaimed in joy.

Then, the time machine's door opened up.

"Your Majesty! Sweet Rose! I've been fraught with-"

But Toadsworth couldn't finish his sentence as he, Luigi and E. Gadd saw a pair of demon eyes from inside the machine's darkness. That's definitely not Peach nor Amy…

Before long, two green claws and the head of a hostile alien came out as it lets out a loud roar:

 ***ROOOOAAAAR!***

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Luigi screamed in horror and he immediately dashed out of the throne room.

"W-Wait! Master Luigi!" Toadsworth called out, but Luigi was already out of the room.

The alien knocked the unaware Toadsworth backwards and roars again. Mario, Sonic and Tails leaped into action and prepare to fight the alien, known as the Junior Shrooboid.

Mario started by jumping on Junior Shrooboid's head. Then, Junior Shrooboid tried to attack the trio by spinning his body and charging at them, but they dodged it by jumping over it.

The Junior Shrooboid ended up becoming dizzy after its attack, giving Sonic the chance to Spin Dash at him, followed by Tails' arm cannon shot and another jump from Mario. With that, the Junior Shrooboid faced defeat in front of the trio.

"Well, that was easy." Sonic said.

"But… Why was this strange alien inside the machine in the first place?" Mario questioned.

"Speaking of the machine…" Tails went inside the machine to check if there was someone inside. He came out from it with terrible news: "Bad news! There's no sign of Peach or Amy!"

"WHAT?!" both Mario and Sonic shouted in unbelief.

"No! NO! NOOOOOOOO!" one of the Toads shouted in horror. "That awful monster…"

"Just take 'em easy, now. They weren't this feller's breakfast." E. Gadd said as he takes out a DS-like monitor. "My DS time radar puts Peach and Amy somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom of yesteryear."

"Really?" Mario and Sonic were surprised.

"Time radar? TIME RADAR?! You just made that up! Where'd this monster come from, then?" the Toad asked.

"That I don't know. And with the time machine this dinged up, we're not going anywhere." E. Gadd stated.

Just then, Luigi came back into the throne room, but he was panicking as he tells them:

"G-G-Guys! You're not gonna believe this! I just saw a mysterious hole that just showed up at the castle's garden sooner after I ran out of the throne room!"

"What's that, sonny? A mysterious hole has appeared in the garden?" E. Gadd questioned. Luigi nodded in response. E. Gadd became silent for a bit before concluding: "Hmm… It's possible the return of the machine tore holes in the time continuum… To the garden, fellers!"

Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails followed E. Gadd to the castle's garden. There, they saw that there was indeed a strange hole making a vortex inside at the corner.

"As I suspected…" E. Gadd inspects the hole. "IT'S A TIME HOLE!"

"Time hole?" the four heroes questioned in unison.

"Yessirees, this time hole is a doorway to the past! No doubt about it, it appeared because of that time machine."

"But, I don't get it; how can time holes show up just because of the machine? That doesn't make sense…" Tails pondered.

Luigi then decides to look at the time hole a bit closer, so he jumped at the hole's edge and peeked down.

"Uh, Luigi… Be careful up there…" Tails warned with worry.

"If I'm right, that time hole leads back in time!" E. Gadd said. "Yep, to a younger Mushroom Kingdom. Question is, to WHERE in the Mushroom Kingdom?! The other question is, if a feller were to jump in, could he even make it back…"

"Who knows?" Sonic shrugged.

"Hey! If that's the case, maybe we could use this time hole to find Peach and Amy!" Mario exclaimed.

"Hmm… Now there's an idea. I'd bet dollars to donuts that's our best chance at saving them." E. Gadd confirmed.

"MASTER MARIO!" Toadsworth's voice came in.

Just then, the hospital bed where Toadsworth was still on came in and accidentally bumped at the time hole, causing Luigi to about to lose his balance.

"W-W-Whooooaa!" Luigi struggled to keep his balance, but no success; he fell face-planted into the hole, but for some reason, the hole wasn't deep, so he landed ON it like if it was normal ground.

But then, all of a sudden, as soon as Luigi's body touched the hole, it began sprouting colorful stars and laser lights as Luigi was hovering around the hole, which left everyone startled.

"GAAAAH! HEEEELP!" Luigi shouted as he was pulled inside the time hole. Once it did, the lights faded out.

"LUIGI!" Mario, Sonic and Tails cried out in despair.

"M-M-Master Mario! The princess and the mistress! Where is Princess Peach and Mistress Rose? And what were those lights? And what is that odd hole?! I demand answers, sir!" Toadsworth panicked.

"Sorry! No time to explain!" Mario warned as he prepares to jump into the hole as well.

"Wait, Mario! We'll go too!" Sonic called out.

The trio then jumped into the hole, only for them to face the same event that happened to Luigi.

"MASTER MARIO! MASTER SONIC! MASTER TAILS!" Toadsworth shouted out loud.

* * *

 _ **Inside the time hole…**_

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAA!" Mario, Sonic and Tails screamed as they fell and fell into the never-ending vortex. Little did they know, that this hole was immediately taking them to the Mushroom Kingdom's past.

* * *

The time hole took them to the Mushroom Kingdom's highest hills. They emerged out of the hole that also popped up in the area and fell to the ground:

 ***THUD!***

"Ow…" Sonic groaned.

"Are you guys okay?" Tails asked as he rubs his head.

"Yeah…" Mario responded. Unknown to him, he had accidentally landed on Luigi.

"Jeez… What a voyage!" Sonic stood up. "Are we actually in the past?"

"I guess so." Mario replied.

"Uh, Mario…" Tails noticed Luigi underneath Mario. "Not meant to startle you but… You just landed on Luigi."

"What?" Mario looked down and indeed; he was standing on Luigi! "Whoops!" he immediately jumped off. "Luigi! Wake up!"

Just then, another thing came out from the time hole and also landed on…Luigi.

"Huh? What is that thing?" Sonic questioned. "It looks like…a talking suitcase?"

"Watch the leather, Professor! No need for the shoving!" the suitcase warned by shouting at the time hole.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Mario asked.

"Oh, you must be Mario, Sonic and Tails." The suitcase guessed. A nod came from the trio. The suitcase then looks around confused; it seemed that someone else was missing for him. "According to the professor, there should be a Luigi here as well, but I don't…"

"Umm, you see…" Mario pointed at Luigi under the suitcase.

Then, the suitcase was sent flying to the air by Luigi, who got up to his feet by jumping and glared at the suitcase.

"Could you please WATCH who're you stepping on, suitcase thing?!" Luigi growled with steam coming out of his head.

"Oh, my! Are you Luigi? I… Sorry about that." The suitcase apologized.

"Calm down, Luigi. I'm sure that was an accident." Tails patted his shoulder.

" _Except for the fact that I landed on him first…_ " Mario thought while sweatdropping.

"Is that so? Hmm, alright then." Luigi said.

"I am pleased to meet you. I am known as Stuffwell." The suitcase known as Stuffwell spoke. "Professor E. Gadd invented me. I am what is called a suitcase."

" _No shit, Sherlock!_ " Sonic thought while facepalming.

"The professor sent me back in time to be your assistant." Stuffwell continued.

"Uh…" the four heroes looked at each other in confusion.

"Yes, 'assistant' IS accurate… I'm more than just someplace to store your belongings. I have MANY complex sensors…and various memory apparati for data retention…and…er… Well, suffice to say, I am very technologic by contraption standards. I'll be a BIG help."

"Okay, we'll be glad to accept you." Mario said.

"All right! BACK TO ADVENTURE!" Stuffwell exclaimed and jumps inside Mario's pocket.

"It's amazing how a suitcase this big is able to fit into your pocket…" Sonic remarked.

"Yeah… Some things in the Mushroom Kingdom are odd to happen." Tails replied.

All of a sudden, the ground begun to shake. The heroes flinched by that.

"What the heck was that?" Sonic questioned.

"It looked like… Oh no! The time hole!" Tails pointed to the time hole while shocked.

Before their eyes, the time hole begun to sink into the ground!

"NOOOOOO!" Luigi panicked as the time hole completely disappears into the ground. "NONONONONONO! It still has to be here! It still has to be here!" he dug and dug into the ground in desperation, trying to locate any signs of the time hole.

"Face it, Luigi. The time hole is gone." Sonic rolled his eyes.

" ***sniff*** no…" Luigi cried. "How do we get back to our time now?"

"Don't worry, little bro. We'll find a way to return. I'm sure about that." Mario comforted his brother. "For now on, let's explore this old Mushroom Kingdom of the past."

They all nodded and moved on. As they were halfway to the top of the hill, they felt the ground shake again.

"Now what?" Sonic questioned.

Suddenly, a Toad fell from somewhere in the sky and landed on Mario!

"Ugh!" he groaned from the impact.

"Mario!" Luigi cried out. "Are you okay?!"

Mario shook his head to get rid of his dizziness and the heroes eyed at the Toad.

"The…village…of the…fairies… Dank purple…mushrooms…" the Toad murmured quietly.

" _Fairies?_ " the heroes thought while confused.

Just then, they heard the noises from the UFOs flying above them.

"Look up there!" Tails pointed upwards.

"No way! Aliens in the Mushroom Kingdom?!" Sonic was shocked.

"And they seem to be heading to the village at the top!" Mario directed to the village at the top of the hill.

They saw the UFOs attacking the village by shooting blasts of energy everywhere.

"Oh no! They're attacking that village!" Luigi whimpered.

"We better hurry!" Sonic demanded.

They immediately nodded and made their way to the village at the top as quick as they could.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **The next chapter is where things start to get interesting! Please review.  
**


	3. Past and Future Heroes meet

**By the chapter's name, you'll know what's coming...! ;D**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Past and Future Heroes meet  
**

Previously, our heroes had arrived to the past through a mysterious time hole. They made their way to the top of the hill by crossing a path with tall red mushrooms so that they could reach the village that was under attack.

This village was named Hollijolli Village; a snow-covered town with a Christmas theme to it, as we could see many holiday trees around. The terrain had colorful stars as its pattern. It is located at the northeast of Star Hill, and this is where the fairies of the Mushroom Kingdom were born, and they are taken care of the Toad villagers at their infancies before leaving their nest to give order and protection to the kingdom. Each fairy that's born here has her own powers.

Of course, because of the recent attack, all of the fairies fled from the village, leaving it deserted. Speaking of deserted, the heroes had arrived too late; the UFOs were destroying the whole town. They gasped at the sights.

"Oh no! It's too late!" Luigi whimpered.

They saw the UFOs blasting the ground, leaving holes on it. What was more shocking was that some of those UFOs were also abducting innocent Toad villagers! After causing as much chaos as possible in this village, the UFOs left.

"W-Why were they abducting Toads for?" Mario questioned in shock.

"This is terrible! We better check everywhere for survivors!" Tails told them.

"You're right! Let's go!" Sonic nodded.

They wandered around this now devastated village. They could see destroyed houses, malfunctioning lights and lifeless trees. At the end, they found… Nothing. The whole village was indeed deserted.

"Guess we're out of luck…" Sonic sighed.

"Hold on… Do you guys hear that?" Tails' ears perked up as he heard strange alien noises from nearby.

They checked behind some group of surviving trees and saw a trio of Shroobs standing still. The heroes prepared to jump towards them and as they did so, they glared at them, and the Shroobs started to speak in a language that the heroes couldn't understand:

" **& (%...?"**

" **& (%...?"**

" **%$!"**

" **%$!"**

" **%$!"**

The heroes were confused at what they were saying, but after those words, the Shroobs launched an attack at them, meaning that they want to pick up a fight with them.

But then, one of the Shroobs called forth a UFO, showing the number 3 below it.

"What does that number mean?" Sonic asked.

"I think it means we only have three turns to attack before…who knows what happens!" Mario answered.

"Are you serious? We can't take them all at once with only three turns!"

"We have to try; it's the only choice we have."

Sonic realized that Mario was right. The brothers began by stomping two of the three Shroobs, and the counter dropped to two.

"That won't end well…" Sonic swaetdropped as he Home Attacks the other Shroob that didn't receive damage, and the counter reduced to one.

"We're not gonna make it!" Tails informed as he shoots all three Shroobs at once with a blast of his arm cannon. Even that, the Shroobs still weren't defeated!

"That's impossible! How can these guys have such high health?!" Mario flinched in disbelief.

Finally, the counter reaches zero. With that, a cannon appeared below the UFO and charged a large blast of energy while aiming at the heroes. After charging it to maximum, the UFO sends the blast falling towards them!

"HOLY MOLY!" Sonic shouted in shock as the blast was getting closer.

"IT'S THE END!" Luigi cried out in panic while covering his face with his cap.

The large blast hit the heroes, immediately KO'ing them. Once the UFO left, the Shroobs laughed in victory. What will become of our heroes…?

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, high above Hollijolli Village…**_

We can see the Koopa Cruiser…well, cruising the skies. Inside, at the lower level, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Young Sonic and Young Tails were playing a game of tag while they ran around in circles, while Young Amy was holding Baby Peach in her arms, watching the boys play.

However, unknown to them, three UFOs snuck behind the cruiser, and one of them shot a blast, hitting the back of the cruiser. This startled the youngsters from the inside.

This also caused the cruiser to activate its alarm, making the babies cry in fright.

"WAAAAAAAAAAHH!" they wailed out loud.

The young animals flinched by their wail and tried their best to calm them down. Then, a megaphone came down and it says:

" _EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!"_

"PRIIIIIIIIINCESS!" Young Toadsworth crawled his way from the exit towards Young Amy, who was still holding Baby Peach. "Oh! Oh, Mistress Rose! Trying to calm the princess down?"

"Yeah, but I think she won't stop crying because of the alarm!" Young Amy warned.

"Princess!" Young Toadsworth got in front of Baby Peach to call her attention. "Never fear, my dear. Toadsworth is here!"

Baby Peach stopped wailing, but she was still sobbing a bit. Young Amy handed her to Young Toadsworth as he spoke: "Come! Let's get you to safety!"

"How about the bridge?" Young Amy suggested.

"Sounds fine to me. Let's go."

Young Amy followed Young Toadsworth out of the area. Young Sonic and Young Tails were still trying their best to calm down the toddler brothers. Soon, the same megaphone came down, this time; Baby Bowser's voice came through:

" _This is the great Prince Bowser! Kneel, minions! OK, now get up! All personnel to the bridge!"_

After that, Young Sonic finally managed to calm Baby Mario down and he stopped crying. However, the same can't be said for Young Tails with Baby Luigi.

"Shh… Shh… It was just a startle, Luigi. Please don't cry." Young Tails spoke quietly while caressing Baby Luigi's head.

"I think it's best if we take him to the next room where this annoying alarm doesn't reach us." Young Sonic stated.

"Sounds like a clever idea." Young Tails replied and picks up Baby Luigi in his arms before he, Young Sonic and Baby Mario exited the area.

Once outside, since the alarm wasn't reaching them, Young Tails rubs Baby Luigi's back gently while speaking quietly:

"There, there, Luigi. The alarm is gone now. You don't have to cry anymore." He wipes off Baby Luigi's tears.

Baby Luigi does a few hiccups before finally calming down and stops crying, but still sobbing a little.

"Waaah… ***sniff*** alarm too loud!" he sniffled.

"It's okay; we're finally out." Young Tails smiled, making Baby Luigi smile a little bit, and Young Tails placed him down.

* * *

With that, the four young heroes made their way together out of the lower level of the cruiser and arrived at the bridge, where they found Young Amy with Young Toadsworth holding Baby Peach in his arms. Up ahead, there was Baby Bowser and his Koopa minions piloting the cruiser, which was still being attacked by the UFOs from behind.

"Time to show these alien jerks what the Koopa Cruiser can do!" Baby Bowser grinned before giving his order: "Fire the Koopa Cannon!"

"FIRE!" all of the Koopas shouted.

Eventually, the cannon placed at the deck of the cruiser loaded before firing a spiked ball at the UFOs, knocking all of them down.

"Bwah ha ha ha HAAA!" Baby Bowser laughed evilly. "I am just so dang EVIL! I hope they felt honored to be shot down by me!"

Then, two of the Koopas began to appraise Baby Bowser:

"You're the best, Prince Bowser!"

"You're a Koopa's Koopa!"

"Bwah ha ha ha!" Baby Bowser laughed in amusement.

Suddenly, the cruiser made a sudden downwards dive, startling Baby Bowser:

"YOW!"

With this event, the cruiser was now flying a few inches above Hollijolli Village.

"Hey! You call that piloting?! Pay attention, sky-nerd!" Baby Bowser stomps the ground angered.

Then, one of the Koopas saw something below them and reported:

"Prince Bowser! There! 4 o'clock!" he pointed to the area where the trio of Shroobs, who were still celebrating, KO'd the adult heroes. "Those villagers are under Shroob attack!"

"Your… Your orders? Should we help them?" another Koopa asked.

"Aw, man… It's half past snack time already!" Baby Bowser complained, ignoring the orders. "We… We saw nothing! Everybody clear on that?"

However, this news did not make Baby Peach too happy: she starts to cry loudly, startling everyone.

"Great hoogly-boogly! The princess does NOT approve of this!" Young Toadsworth warned. "Young Master Bowser! Abandoning those folk is reprehensible!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Baby Peach wailed so loud, it caused everyone to cover their ears.

"MY EARS! She'll ruin us all!" Baby Bowser yelled. "Fine! I'll help them if it'll just SHUT HER UP! Koopa Cannon! FIRE!"

"FIRE!" all of the Koopas shouted.

The cannon then shoots another spiked ball, sending the three Shroobs away. Soon after that, Baby Peach calmed down. Noticing that, Baby Bowser went to her and spoke sternly:

"There! Happy?"

"Eee hee hee!" Baby Peach giggled while clapping her hands.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Baby Bowser then turned to the toddler Mario Bros as well as the young Team Sonic. "You four take care of things from here. Go get 'em, Red and Blue! You too, Greenie and Yellow!"

"Leave it to us!" Young Tails nodded.

* * *

The Koopa Cruiser landed on the far west side of Hollijolli Village, and the young heroes exited from the bridge.

"Well, now that we took care of those aliens, we better go check on those unfortunate villagers." Young Sonic said.

"You're right. Then maybe it will make Princess Peach most pleased, and perhaps avoid future tantrums." Baby Mario added.

"I hope nothing grave happened to those poor villagers…" Young Tails spoke in a worried voice.

"Let's hope we can find them before more of those aliens attack them again." Baby Luigi stated.

The young heroes wandered around the village, gazing at the destruction caused by the Shroobs.

It didn't take quite long, since the cruiser landed on the spot that was closer to their respective destination. They went to the downed 'villagers' and tried to wake them up, not noticing that they looked oddly similar to our young heroes.

But then, two of the Shroobs that were sent away came back and one of them spoke in their native alien language:

" **%( &…"**

The young heroes heard that and turned around to find themselves face to face with the Shroobs.

" **%$!"**

"They're still here?!" Young Sonic flinched. "Well then, I guess we have no choice but to take them down. After all, we'll also avenge them for those villagers!"

Young Sonic and Young Tails charged their Spin Dashes and zoomed towards each Shroob, followed up by Baby Mario and Baby Luigi's stomps.

However, Young Sonic and Young Tails didn't expect the Shroobs shoot at them with their laser guns, and they were hit by their blasts.

"ACK!" they groaned from the impact.

"Sonic! Tails!" Baby Luigi cried out.

"I think direct attacks are too weak against the Shroobs, so we have to attack them from a distance!" Baby Mario warned.

"How?" Baby Luigi asked.

"Good thing Toadsworth packed in a few items for us!" Baby Mario pulled out a Green Shell from his pocket.

"Isn't that a Green Koopa Shell?"

"Yep! Remember how we used to play soccer together? Let's use that same way to attack these Shroobs! Like this!"

Baby Mario placed the shell next to his feet and kicks it towards one of the Shroobs. Once the shell hit the Shroob, it bounced back and was heading towards Baby Luigi.

"Now, Luigi! It's your turn to kick!" Baby Mario called out.

"Oh! I get it!" Baby Luigi grinned and kicks the shell next.

The toddler brothers continued their kicking until both Shroobs were defeated.

"That was fun! It's been awhile since we don't play soccer." Baby Luigi said.

"You guys did it!" Young Tails exclaimed. "All right, now that those Shroobs are out of the way, let's check on the villagers."

Being the fastest one, Young Sonic made his way towards them first. But once he took a look at them, he noticed something odd.

"Guys, look at this!" he called out. "Now that I see these villagers close up, they bear a striking resemblance to all of us! I mean, look, this blue guy looks almost like me!" he directs to the adult blue hedgehog.

"You're right, Sonic! This fox guy looks like an adult version of me or something!" Young Tails confirmed as he glances at the adult yellow fox. "Not to mention that those hairy guys are dressed just like Mario and Luigi…"

"This is odd…" Baby Luigi pondered.

"Well, whoever they are, I believe it's best to take them to Bowser's ship. Who knows when more of those awful aliens return?" Baby Mario told them while shrugging.

"You have a point there. Let's head back." Young Sonic said.

* * *

 _ **Later…**_

Once the adult heroes had woken up at the cruiser's bridge, Young Toadsworth began to tell them about what happened back at the castle:

"Those monsters… Their arrival seems like a horrible dream… It was all so sudden… Foul parasites from the Shroob planet, land of utter creepiness! Their purpose is oh-so clear! They wish to take all we hold dear in the Mushroom Kingdom! Our land… Our very lives! Oh, and the village is in ruins… And our beloved castle as well!"

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _There was peace in Toad Town and all of the Toads were wandering happily. But that peace would be short-lived when suddenly, the UFOs came in, making their strange noises, catching all of the Toads' attention as they looked up at the sky._

 _Then, the UFOs released their energy blasts and shot them around the whole town, causing all of the Toads to go in panic._

 _Back in the castle, everyone inside was panicking; it seemed that the castle was about to crumble over them, since there were many pieces of debris that were falling from the ceiling and walls._

" _I WANNA GET OUT!" Baby Luigi cried in desperation._

" _Yeah! We must escape!" Young Tails called out._

" _THE CASTLE! The castle is lost!" Young Toadsworth shouted in a dramatic tone._

" _WOOAAH!" they all suddenly screamed when they felt a loud crash from the outside and they nearly lost their balances._

 _Acting quickly, Baby Bowser pulled out a communicator and spoke:_

" _Prince Bowser here! Come in, Kamek! Get the Koopa Cruiser here, on the double!"_

 _Soon, a Koopa's voice came in:_

" _MY PRINCE!"_

 _The Koopa Cruiser had also arrived and shoots out a spiked ball from its cannon to knock down the UFOs attacking the castle as the same Koopa spoke:_

" _Prince Bowser! Let's hightail it out of here!"_

 _ **End of Flashback**_

* * *

"And THAT is how all of us were rescued by Master Bowser, odd as that sounds." Young Toadsworth finished.

"And now…almost all of the Mushroom Kingdom has fallen under Shroob control." Young Amy lamented.

"Status report, Your Badness! We are currently on approach to Peach's Castle." One of the Koopas informed.

" ***sigh*** our once beautiful castle… No… Look at it now." Young Toadsworth sighed and directed to the front.

The adult heroes gasped in shock at what they saw: the castle had suffered a dramatic change to fit the theme of the Shroobs. It was showing a purple glow, with its towers changed into tall purple mushrooms, along with the pillars and bushes. Glowing purple mushrooms grow all over, a giant statue of the Shroobs' ruler can be found, and Shroob UFOs fly around the exterior of the castle, searching for intruders.

"That's REALLY such a dramatic change!" Sonic was shocked.

"I know, right? No doubt those fiends call it Shroob Castle." Young Sonic stated.

"Rumor has it that their leader is there. Princess Shroob…" Young Toadsworth said.

Mario then was sure that Princess Peach and Amy were inside and possibly kept captive by the Shroobs once they've arrived at the past. He went to Young Toadsworth and explained that to him.

"Eh? What's that you say? Princess Peach and Mistress Rose are being held prisoners in the castle?" he questioned.

"What are you talking about? I and Peach are quite safe and sound right here!" Young Amy stated with a confused look on her face.

"Umm… You see…" Mario stuttered. "You're not gonna believe this at first, but… I was talking about the future versions of Peach and Amy. In addition to that, we're also the future versions of them." He directs to the young heroes at the last sentence.

"Did you really have to spit it out right now, Mario?" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Hmm? I beg your pardon? The futures Princess Peach and Mistress Rose? The future Masters Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails?" Young Toadsworth questioned. Mario nodded.

Upon hearing this, the young heroes became so astonished by that, that they went to each of their adult versions and stared curiously at them from all sides. Young Toadsworth, however, didn't believe that so easily and said playfully:

"Ho! Ho ho! You poor fellows… You've gone a bit daffy, eh? Your noggins must have gotten bonked. Perhaps a nap?"

"I… Uh…" Mario pondered.

All of a sudden, the same alarm activated again. Because of that, Young Tails was afraid that Baby Luigi might cry again. Surprisingly enough, he didn't this time.

"Status report! NOW!" Baby Bowser demanded.

"Your Foulness! We're receiving some sort of transmission from Peach's…I mean, Shroob Castle!" one of the Koopas informed. "It's from… Princess Shroob!"

"A transmission? Put it on the monitor! Let's see what's up."

The monitor from the ceiling shows Princess Shroob, and she speaks in the Shroobs' native language:

" **& *)($%#! ()&…#%(!" **she then lifts her hands into the air and continued: **"$ &()%#! %*)(#%$!"**

Of course, nobody understood anything she was saying.

"Man… Does anyone have ANY idea what she's blabbing about?" Baby Bowser said sternly.

Then, the same alarm came in again.

"Ack! P-Prince Bowser! Fr-From Shroob Castle…" the same Koopa from early stuttered. "It's a Shroob missile, and it's headed straight for us!"

"SAY WHAT?!" everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"Whoa! Evasive action! Koopa Cannon! FIRE!" Baby Bowser demanded.

"No… No ammo!" the same Koopa informed.

"What? You're fired."

"Now's not the time for that!" the other Koopa stated.

Eventually, the Shroob missile was flying straight at the Koopa Cruiser and once it hit it from behind, everyone was flung forward by the momentum.

"AAAAHH!" they screamed as they fell on the ground.

"Direct hit!" the Koopa shouted.

" **#########!"** Princess Shroob cackled as the transmission ended.

The cruiser was starting to malfunction as it was slowly diving downwards.

"Those alien DIRTBAGS! We gotta hold it together until we get back home!" Baby Bowser shouted angrily.

Soon, the Koopa Cruiser found itself plummeting towards Baby Bowser's Castle. It landed so hard on the floor that everyone was flung out of the ceiling, and separated from each other in the castle.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Uh oh... Everyone has been separated! Next chapter coming soon! Please review.  
**


	4. Back to the Future

**Finally done with this chapter!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Back to the Future**

"Uhhhh…" Mario and Luigi woke up after the impact.

"Are you okay, Luigi?" Mario asked.

"I'm fine…" Luigi replied. But then, he noticed that someone, or rather, some people were missing. "Hold on! Where's Sonic and Tails? And our past selves?"

"Boy… It's just one disaster after another with you and Sonic and Tails, isn't it?" Stuffwell came out of Mario's pocket. "Well, my keen detection skills don't pick up anyone else in the immediate vicinity."

"Oh god… Where are they now?" Luigi asked.

"Perhaps they were all thrown clear by the crash, what with the destruction and exploding." Stuffwell guessed.

"OH NO! This is bad!" both brothers shouted in worry.

"Hold it… According to my ultra-radar… A new time hole has appeared somewhere in this castle."

"Wait, really?!" Mario flinched in surprise.

"I think it may be advisable to find the time hole and return to our own time for a while." Stuffwell stated.

"Yeah, but first, we gotta locate for our friends." Mario said. "Especially our baby selves…"

With that, Stuffwell went back into Mario's pocket and the brothers moved on.

* * *

They ended up encountering some Goombas and Boos on their way. Much later, they reached a room where there was a red iron bridge. As soon as the brothers stepped on it, they heard a voice from somewhere:

"Mama mia!" it was from Baby Mario.

"Did you hear that?" Mario asked.

"I did!" Luigi responded. "But where did it come from?"

They looked and looked around, until a green spiked ball fell from the ceiling and it crashed on Luigi's head.

"OWWWW!" he winced in pain.

"Luigi!" Mario cried out.

"Golly, that really hurt!" Luigi groaned as he rubs his head.

"Just where did that spiked ball come from?" Mario questioned.

"Uh, Mario… Look up there…" Luigi pointed at the ceiling, looking quite frightened.

Mario shifted his gaze at the ceiling, and saw something that left him in shock:

"Mama mia! That looks REALLY dangerous!"

What did they just saw at the ceiling? They saw Baby Mario climbing on one of the chains to reach Baby Luigi, who was standing on a girder. Every time Baby Mario ends up sliding, Baby Luigi gets even more concerned that his brother might fall off. After all, there was lava below them.

"I swear to god, PLEASE don't fall off, Mario!" Baby Luigi panicked.

"Unnnngh… Almost…there…" Baby Mario struggles to climb the chain attached to the girder. Soon, he manages to get on the girder. "See? I made it, Luigi!" he exclaimed.

"Yay!" Baby Luigi cheered.

"BABIES!" they heard Mario's voice from below. They looked down and saw their adult selves.

"Hi!" the baby brothers waved happily and giggled.

"It's too dangerous to be up there! Come down! We'll catch you!" Luigi rose his hands to the air.

"Hey! That looks like fun! Woohoo!" Baby Mario jumped off from the girder, much to Baby Luigi's shock.

Instead of being caught, Baby Mario ended up bouncing off of Luigi's head, leaving him dizzy.

" _Sheesh… My bro is using his head a lot today…_ " Mario thought while sweatdropping.

"Thank you very much for being a soft cushion for me!" Baby Mario thanked Luigi.

Luigi shook his head to get rid of his dizziness and replied in embarrassment:

"Uh, y-you're welcome…"

Mario then decides to try to catch Baby Luigi next. However, he was quite frightened that he might not have a soft landing.

"Uh oh…" he murmured.

"You don't have to worry! I'll catch you! I promise!" Mario called out.

"Uh…" Baby Luigi hesitated.

"Mario!" Stuffwell came out of Mario's pocket. "Perhaps you should use me as a sort of cushionation device. I am, of course, well padded. Baby Luigi would likely feel reassured by the sight of my luxurious leather."

"Alright, then." Mario nodded and Stuffwell jumps on his hands. "You can come down now! This suitcase will soften your landing!"

"O-Okey… H-Here I come…" Baby Luigi stuttered as he slowly climbs down the chain.

However, his hands slipped off, and he begins to fall.

"WOWOWOWOWOAAAAAAAAHH!" he screamed while falling.

When he landed on Stuffwell, he felt that it was indeed soft, since he bounced on it.

"Huh, that actually is quite soft than I thought…" Baby Luigi remarked before jumping off.

"We have located and been reunited with the babies. But we still have to find Sonic, Tails and their younger selves." Stuffwell said after jumping off of Mario's hands. "Come on, let's go."

Mario and Luigi followed Stuffwell. But then, as soon as they turned their backs and were about to reach the other side…

"WAAAAAAAAAAAH!" they flinched when they heard Baby Mario and Baby Luigi wailing from behind them.

"Hold up, Stuffwell! We can't forget the babies!" Mario warned. Stuffwell realized that he was right; they just saved the babies from being stuck on the ceiling, and now they're leaving them by themselves?

"Uh, yeah… Allow me a brief apology. I was rushing." Stuffwell apologized. "It seems that the babies are unable to understand my communicating… What a situation…"

"You tell me…" Luigi sweatdropped.

"Well, first of all, we must try to calm them down. Since the younger versions of Sonic and Tails aren't here, I guess we'll have to do it by ourselves." Mario told Luigi. He then walked towards his baby self. "Hmm… When I was younger, what did make me laugh?" he thought for a bit, and finally remembered: "That's it! Funny faces!" he then calls Baby Mario's attention: "Baby!"

Hearing his older self, Baby Mario stopped crying for a bit and looked at him. Mario then did a shocked expression (which counts as a funny face in the game, for some reason), making Baby Mario laugh:

"Hahahahahahaha! Funny face! Funny face!"

Then, Mario had a great idea to amuse his younger self; he grabs him by his waist and lifts him up to his head level.

"Up you go!" Mario exclaimed playfully and tosses Baby Mario into the air.

"Wheeeee!" Baby Mario cheered. "Again! Again!" he begged once Mario caught him back.

"Here you go!" Mario tosses him again.

Luigi, on the other hand, was having a bit of trouble when calming down his younger self. We could say that he was a crybaby ever since his childhood. He tried to make a funny face like his older brother, but it didn't work. Therefore, he tried spinning a little bit, and that actually caught Baby Luigi's attention. But once he stopped, Baby Luigi resumed crying again.

"Oh, really?! Do I have to spin more?!" Luigi rolled his eyes while lamenting.

He then spins more than previously, and Baby Luigi once again stopped crying and watched. However, due to spinning too much, Luigi ended up becoming dizzy.

"Hahahahahaha! Googly eyes! Googly eyes!" Baby Luigi laughed hysterically.

After getting rid of his dizziness, Luigi noticed that getting dizzy…somehow worked, and saw his baby self laughing. He then begins tossing Baby Luigi into the air just like Mario was doing with Baby Mario.

* * *

 _ **A while later…**_

After playing with the babies, Mario and Luigi were facing Stuffwell and he spoke:

"Yes, they are not helpless! I suggest the four of you join forces and move on!"

Stuffwell then explained that to move as a group of four, Mario and Luigi had to give their baby selves piggybacks. Once they did it, Stuffwell finished:

"Now then, let's go find our poor missing companions! BACK TO ADVENTURE!" he then jumps back inside Mario's pocket.

The new group of four then moved on. By using their new piggyback abilities, they were able to reach a room where there was a closed gate surrounded by pillars of spikes. But what was surprising was that Sonic, Tails and their younger selves were trapped on the other side!

"Guys! You're here!" Tails called out.

"Sonic! Tails!" Mario exclaimed. "So you have landed there?"

"Yeah, unfortunately." Sonic rolled his eyes. "But at least we've landed alongside our younger selves."

"Could you stop saying that?!" Young Sonic argued. "I still don't believe you all are our future selves."

"What?! Oh, come on!" Sonic growled. " _Am I really having a fight against myself?!_ "

"Uh… Anyways, could you all find a way to get us out?" Young Tails requested.

"Sure thing!" Mario nodded.

The brothers then found an opening at the left side of the room and they tossed Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in there. After crossing a dark area that was filled with spikes, the toddlers made their way out on the other side, and they met up with the four animals.

"Mario! Luigi! I can't believe you made it in here!" Young Sonic exclaimed.

"We made it with the help of our adult selves!" Baby Mario stated.

"Ugh… Even you?" Young Sonic facepalmed, causing Sonic to growl under his breath.

"I knew all of this time-traveling thing is so complicated…" he muttered.

"Eh? What's that thing up there?" Baby Luigi eyed a hovering treasure chest floating above their heads.

"We just found that right here." Young Tails explained. "We tried to open it, but nothing worked. Could you guys try it?"

"Leave it to me!" Baby Mario hit the chest, and out of it came out a pyramid-shaped shining blue shard. This also caused the gate to open, allowing Mario and Luigi to enter through it. They stared at the shard, seeing it slowly fall towards them.

"What do you suppose that is?" Young Tails asked.

"It appears trashable, but… It may ALSO be something of incalculable value." Young Sonic inspected.

"I think it's best that we take it with us and investigate further." Tails suggested as he takes the shard.

"Wait, are you saying that these grown-up guys will come along too? Nuh-uh! No way!" Young Sonic shook his head. "I'm not letting a bunch of weird strangers who keep saying that they're our future selves come with us!"

"Okay, this is getting annoying!" Sonic hissed.

"If you're really our future selves, then I need proof! That's it."

"Alright, we'll soon show you the proof! You'll see it very soon!"

"Hm, good luck with that." Young Sonic finished with a sarcastic tone.

" _Geez, what's with my past self? Was I really that harsh when I was younger?_ " Sonic thought.

"Well… We're all together now, so how about we head into the next room?" Mario suggested as he and Luigi gave piggybacks to their baby selves.

Everyone went inside the double doors in front of them, taking them to Baby Bowser's room, where they found Young Toadsworth, Young Amy and Baby Peach standing next to a time hole.

"Is that…" Tails started.

"Yes! It's a time hole!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Time hole?" Young Sonic questioned.

"Oh! That's right! There is your proof!" Sonic smirked. "We came here into your time through that!"

"Hmm… Still not enough." Young Sonic wasn't convinced.

"Oh, come on!"

"There you all are!" Young Amy exclaimed. "We just saw this strange hole show up in here. What should we do about it?"

"Simple, let's jump into it!" Mario said.

"Pardon me? You say we should leap into that ridiculous hole?! Absolute rubbish!" Young Toadsworth protested. "Do you honestly believe that I would place the princess in such reckless endangerment?"

" ***sigh*** let's just go back to our own era." Sonic sighed. "This blathering nincompoop is just arresting our progress."

"You… Why, you SCOUNDREL!" Young Toadsworth yelled. "How DARE you refer to me as such?!"

"See? I told you, Tails! Do I act like that? No! It's so clear that they aren't us from the future!" Young Sonic stated.

"Oh yeah? Well, because you've been so annoying to me, I'm taking you with me to the future!" Sonic growled while forcibly grabbing Young Sonic by his arm and leaping into the hole with him.

Once the event with the colorful stars and laser lights happened and both Sonics were pulled inside the hole, both Tailses, Marios and Luigis followed suit. All of this left Young Toadsworth and Young Amy speechless.

"Those colorful stars looked quite pretty, though. I think I'm going in!" Young Amy broke the silence and jumped inside the hole as well, and the same event happened to her too.

"Halt!" Young Toadsworth shouted. "I say! What cheek! You, I dare say, are the true nincompoops! Come back here this instant!" he then also jumped inside the time hole.

* * *

With the heroes, after that long travel into the endless vortex, they eventually emerged out of Peach's Castle in the present day. Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Young Sonic and Young Tails looked around amazed.

"Wow… Is this Peach's Castle in the future?" Baby Mario questioned.

"Yep! Very different than the one back in your time, right?" Mario smiled.

"You bet!"

Then, Stuffwell came out and spoke:

"And just like that, here we are, back in our own time."

"Thank god. I thought we would be stuck in the past at the beginning…" Luigi sighed in relief.

"Alright, let's hustlify over and see the good professor at the throne room." He then went back inside Mario's pocket.

Once at the throne room, they found E. Gadd and also the Junior Shrooboid, which was inside a lab tube, looking lifeless for now. They also saw someone that they haven't seen before, standing next to the professor, cloaked in a brown robe with a hood.

"Professor! We're back!" Tails called out.

"Hey now! Back at last!" E. Gadd exclaimed. "Someone informed me that you were bringing little fellers back with you to this time. And just look at this, now… These ones are in red and green, and these others are blue and yellow! I am plumb astounded! But then again, what else would the little fellers wearing and looking like, huh? Still, it sure tickles me to see little bros and little team teamed up with the regular big bros and big team!"

"So you're saying that they are indeed our future selves? How do you know that?" Young Sonic asked in a serious tone.

"Because I was the one who informed him, silly." The cloaked person answered, speaking in a soft, soothing voice of a woman as she turned around.

She then removes her robe, and to the heroes' surprise, she wasn't a normal person; she was actually a fairy! Spreading her glittering transparent wings, this fairy, sharing the same height as Peach, had the appearance of a 20 year old woman with an oval face, pink eyeshadow and eyes, red lips and long black wavy hair that reached below her waist. Her outfit is an ivory strapless dress with a bell-shaped skirt that went past her ankles and didn't allow you to see her feet, in which she's actually barefoot. Donning her beautiful hair was a headband consistent of daisy flowers. On her upper arms, there was a pink strap with pink ribbons flowing from it, and on her wrists, tied transparent ivory scarves that also flowed. She was also wearing a black necklace showing a mysterious glowing blue stone as the pendent.

"Ho ho ho ho! I've met her soon after you left into the time hole!" E. Gadd laughed.

"Indeed. I've been watching you all during your time on the Mushroom Kingdom's past." The fairy said. "It's so nice to meet you all. I am Veronica, the Fairy of Time. I am able to control and manipulate time, travel through time and even receive visions of people and the land's past, present and future. You see, I was one of the fairies who had fled from Hollijolli Village because of the Shroobs' attack."

"So that explains it…" Mario pondered.

"But wait, how were you able to identify the past and future versions of people?" Young Sonic asked.

"In every people's hearts, there's a type of energy flowing inside of them. Those energies are unique to everyone. There's no one in the world with the same type of energy." Veronica explained. "So I was able to identify your and your friends' future selves because they shared the same energy as yours."

"Oh, really? If that's the case…" he turned to his older self with a guilty expression. "I'm… I'm sorry for being so harsh and doubting on you. Sometimes, I can be rather arrogant. I bet you know exactly what I mean, since you're me."

"Yup, I do know what you meant." Sonic grinned. His younger self grinned back.

"Veronica also told me that the Mushroom Kingdom of the past is in gargantulent trouble." E. Gadd continued. "You fellers might of have experienced that already, am I right?" the past and future heroes nodded. "Hmm… So it's true. These Shroob creatures have made off with the princess and miss Rose, eh?"

As E. Gadd was thinking, Baby Luigi glanced at the Junior Shrooboid inside the lab tube. He quietly called Baby Mario so that they could take a closer look, and they snuck past the adult heroes and stared curiously at the Junior Shrooboid.

"Oh, I should have mentioned, Professor and Veronica… We recovered this at Bowser's Castle in the past." Tails interfered and showed the blue shard they had found.

"YOWZER!" E. Gadd exclaimed.

"No way! You boys already found one of the Cobalt Star shards?" Veronica was surprised.

"Cobalt Star?" the adult heroes, Young Sonic, and Young Tails questioned in unison.

"Yep! It's the time machine's fuel source!" E. Gadd replied. "But why was it in Bowser's Castle?! And how did it get broken?! Veronica! You haven't told me yet on that part!"

"Well… I… Uh…" Veronica stuttered, hesitating to talk.

"You alright, Veronica?" Tails asked in concern.

"I'm fine! It's just…"

Suddenly, the Cobalt Shard flew towards the Junior Shrooboid, causing it to roar. This also startled the babies and they started crying.

"WAAAAAAAAH!" Baby Mario and Baby Luigi wailed out loud. Young Tails and Young Sonic flinched and they quickly rushed to the babies, trying to calm them down as usual.

"Good gravy! The Cobalt Star shard is driving that monster crazy!" E. Gadd's eyes widened.

"Shh… Don't cry, Mario and Luigi! That monster is inside that tube; it won't come out." Young Tails gently rubs Baby Luigi's back. Young Sonic does the same, but Baby Mario and Baby Luigi still won't stop crying.

"MAMA!" Baby Luigi screamed as he wails loudly.

Mario and Luigi went to their baby selves and gave them piggybacks, which oddly enough, made them stop crying.

"Wow… Looks like they got used to this piggyback thingy." Young Sonic was surprised.

Veronica moved the Cobalt Shard away from the Junior Shrooboid and it became lifeless again.

"Phew… That was a close one…" she sighed. "Are you babies feeling better?"

"Much better! Much better!" Baby Luigi responded with a smile. Veronica couldn't help but smile too.

"Hmmmmmmmmm…" E. Gadd examined the Cobalt Shard. "Could it be… Yep, it could! I do believe there's a link between the Cobalt Star and the Shroob marauders."

"Maybe we can figure out how to defeat these alien jerks if we find more Cobalt Star shards!" Sonic stated.

"Possibly…"

"I… I can sense some sort of time energy in this shard…" Veronica said. "Let me use my time powers to let it free."

Veronica concentrates and the Cobalt Shard glows in yellow. That glow then flew out of the shard and out of the throne room, making almost everyone flinch by that. The glow continued its way to another part of the castle and plunged into the ground, creating a new time hole.

"That shaking…was not natural. I'd wager a new time hole just opened here in the castle." E. Gadd guessed.

"That's correct." Veronica nodded. "That Cobalt Shard is reacting to the other shards that are scattered in the past."

"Mario! Luigi! Sonic! Tails! You youngsters get going and find those other Cobalt Star shards!" E. Gadd told them. "Let me also send Veronica with you as well. She'll guide you in your journey through the Mushroom Kingdom's past."

"It is my pleasure, Professor." Veronica thanked as she flew towards the heroes. "Ready to go, past and future heroes?"

"Yeah!" they all cheered.

Veronica led them into the room of the castle where the new time hole showed up. They all jumped in, and were pulled inside just like last time.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"VILLAIN!" we just heard Young Toadsworth's voice, who just came inside the same room where our heroes leaped into the time hole alongside Young Amy and Baby Peach. Then, the older Toadsworth came in as well!

"I DARESAY THOSE ARE THEM!" Toadsworth shouted. "Those children on your side, sir! They're the princess and Mistress Rose, are they not?"

He tries to approach them, but Young Toadsworth dragged the girls away from him.

"KEEP YOUR DISTANCE!" Young Toadsworth yelled. "You're not cleared to address Her Royal Highness!"

"In the short time they've been gone, they've grown so small!" Toadsworth remarked. "THIS is why I was so opposed to that infernal time device!"

He approaches and approaches his younger self with the girls, but he kept moving them away until he gets cornered to the wall.

"SOMEONE! ANYONE!" Young Toadsworth called out in desperation. "HELP! SOMEBODY! IS THIS CASTLE DESERTED?" he then dragged the girls out of the room.

"PRINCESS! MISTRESS ROSE!" Toadsworth called out and chased after his younger self.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **And here we have the introduction of this story's female guide: the fairy of time, Veronica! There's nothing much to say about her, but she's going to be a huge help for our heroes. Especially on much later chapters.  
**

 **The next chapter will show our amazing total number of 9 heroes venturing in Toadwood Forest! Please review.**


	5. Toadwood Forest

**Took me a while, but I finally finished this chapter!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Toadwood Forest**

After the ride in the time hole, the past and future heroes, alongside a fairy named Veronica, arrived back at another part of the Mushroom Kingdom's past: Toadwood Forest.

This place is a spooky and humid forest located west of Shroob Castle. There were many trees, rocks resembling Yoshi Eggs, and an odd factory at the deepest part of the forest. The heroes were fazed by this place. As they walked onwards, they started a conversation:

"So the forest has also been taken over by the Shroobs… That's not a good thing." Mario said.

"Yeah, they probably won't stop until they conquer everything in the Mushroom Kingdom." Sonic guessed.

"That's a fair point, Sonic." Tails pointed out.

"Say, is it just me, or are those trees looking…odd?" Luigi glanced at the trees; some of them seemed that they were strapping something… But what?

He decided to take a closer look at one of the trees, and…

"H-Help…!" a Toad voice was heard, startling both Luigis.

"Wah! Tree talked!" Baby Luigi flinched.

"Wait a minute… Did I just hear a Toad's voice from the tree?" Mario questioned while staring suspiciously at the tree. He walked closer to it, and saw that a body of a Toad was indeed strapped to the tree's trunk! Baby Mario then playfully pokes the Toad's body, but it didn't seem to move.

"No motion…" he replied quietly.

"Hold on… Guys! Remember back at what happened at Hollijolli Village? I think that all of the Toads that the Shroobs abducted are taken here! But why do they need those poor innocent Toads for?" Tails pondered.

"I can answer that to you." Veronica said in a distressed tone. "You see, the Shroobs are masters of high-tech and genetics, so they used their abilities to genetically-engine those trees and place all of the abducted Toads in them." She then faced away the heroes for a bit while continuing. "All of the Toad species have some sort of life force called vim. When the vim is extracted from a Toad, it resembles a green liquid with transparent images of sad Toad spirits."

"That sounds…dark." Young Sonic remarked.

"Indeed. Now, take a look at the ground." Veronica directs the heroes to a strange brown cable installed in the ground and some sort of lime-green liquid was flowing inside. "This root leads to a series of network roots under the ground. See that lime-green liquid inside? That's the vim. Those trees are extracting the vim out from the Toads, where it is transported by its roots to the Vim Factory, located at the heart of the forest. Without their vim, the Toads lose their coloration and slowly become part of the trees before dying."

"That's horrible!" Young Tails whimpered.

"And now the Shroobs are using the vim as their fuel for their Shroob Saucers with special chemicals." Veronica turned back to the heroes. "It is said that a bio-mechanical Wiggler robot is the one who converts the vim into fuel and transfers it to the Saucers."

"So that's the reason why the Shroobs are capturing the Toads…" Tails confirmed.

"If this keeps going, there won't be any more Toads to govern the Mushroom Kingdom…" Mario lamented.

"Now I can't imagine the Mushroom Kingdom without Toads…" Luigi whimpered.

"Alright, you're able to see the past, present and future, right? Could you tell us what happened exactly to Peach and Amy once they've arrived at this time period?" Sonic said.

"If you really want to know… Very well." Veronica replied while closing her eyes. "As soon as they arrived in this time, they were attacked by the Shroobs…"

* * *

 _ **Flashback…**_

 _Shortly after the younger heroes had fled with Baby Bowser to the Koopa Cruiser, E. Gadd's time machine had just arrived at the past version of Peach's Castle, which was wrecked by the Shroobs. The machine's doors open, and Peach and Amy came out. They became shocked by the castle's state._

" _Oh my goodness! What's happened here?" Peach questioned in shock._

" _EEEK!" Amy suddenly shrieked. "Peach! Look over there!"_

 _The girls saw a group of Shroobs coming towards them. They stopped a few inches away before opening way to their leader, Princess Shroob._

" _Who are you?" Peach asked in a frightened tone as Princess Shroob approaches her and Amy._

" _S-Stay away from us!" Amy backs off, alongside Peach._

 _Princess Shroob then raised her arms, and began to charge some sort of energy._

 _ **End of Flashback**_

* * *

"…Princess Peach and Amy Rose were separated from each other by the Shroobs." Veronica continued. "I can't seem to detect Amy anywhere, I'm afraid…but I do know that Peach was taken to somewhere on the Kingdom's past. To where exactly, I don't know…"

"I knew it…" Mario growled under his breath.

"Veronica, back to the Toads' situation, should we check the factory?" Tails asked.

"Well, yes. I can sense a Cobalt Shard somewhere in that horrid place." Veronica answered.

"Really? Sweet! Then we should definitely check inside!" Sonic grinned.

"Yeah! We should!" Young Sonic grinned back.

" ***sigh*** if you say so, then follow me." Veronica sighed deeply before flying to the path leading to the heart of the forest with the heroes following her.

Of course, they had to fight their way through enemies like Boo Guys, Elasto-Piranhas, and Koopeleons in the forest to get to the factory. After solving a puzzle involving fire to burn out the trees blocking the way leading to the factory, they finally reached the heart of the forest, where a bunch of spikes were placed around, and saw some Shroob Saucers flying directly to the Vim Factory, possibly to refill their fuel tanks.

In order to enter the factory, they had to break the circuit that was guarding the front entrance by activating the two antenna towers located at the top left and right corners of the area. Once both circuits were broken, the heroes entered the factory.

* * *

The Vim Factory is a factory built by the Shroobs before the arrival of Peach and Amy to the past. Certain chemicals are mixed with the vim extracted from the Toads to produce fuel for the Saucers, and this place is where this process occurs. The being who transports the fuel to the Shroobs' UFOs was a robotic Wiggler-like Shroob, who stays at the top floor of the factory. The factory's layout basically consists of purple walls and many machines at the later rooms.

Why later rooms? Because once the heroes set foot into the factory, two Hammer Bros wearing what appears to be mind-controlling helmets blocked their path instantly.

" _ **AREA RESTRICTED. ALL NOOB INTRUDERS 2 B HAXORED BY US L33T HAMM3R BROZ!"**_ the Hammer Bro on the right spoke in a robotic voice.

" _ **WE R TEH SHROOB ALLIES. WE ROXOR U AND THEN ROFL. THEN U AM CRY."**_ The Hammer Bro on the left continued. _**"WE RECEIVE ORDERS THRU ANTENNAS ON THESE L33T HELMETS. THEY R HOTNESS. WE MUST OBEY ALL ORDERS. WE LIKE 2 PWN NOOBS 4 TEH MASTER SHROOBZORS. U = NOOBS. BROZ = L33T. PREPARE 4 TOTAL PWNAGE. WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!"**_

Suddenly, a nose-like vacuum came down from the ceiling just a few inches away from our heroes.

"What the-?" Luigi eyed the vacuum above them.

Just then, the nose vacuum begins to suck in…the adult heroes!

"WAH!" they screamed as their heads were sucked into the nostrils. The young heroes and Veronica gasped at that.

Then, the nose vacuum started to drag away the adults to the left.

"NOO!" the young heroes cried out as they pursued after their older selves, but they were out of reach and they were carried away to another room. The two Hammer Bros went towards the youngsters and Veronica and the one on the left spoke:

" _ **NOOBZ STILL R NOT PWNED. CONTINUE PWNERSHIP UNTIL ALL NOOBZ R PWNED."**_

" _ **TEH ESCAPE IS IMPOSSIBLE. WE R 2 L33T. WE OWNZ JOO. U WILL GET FLATZORED BY R L33T HAMMERS."**_ The other one finished.

The youngsters had no choice but to fight by their own against the Hammer Bros so that they could save their adult selves from a slaving fate. Thankfully, they had Veronica to help them.

The Hammer Bros first executed an attack together that was similar to the Knockback Bros. The youngsters dodged the attack and Young Sonic and Young Tails attacked them by Spin Jumping at them at the same time.

When the Hammer Bros were about to execute their attack again, Veronica used her powers to freeze them in place, giving the chance for Young Sonic and Young Tails to do a Spin Dash and Baby Mario and Baby Luigi finished them off with their Green Shell Attack.

The Green Shell also managed to knock off both Hammer Bros' helmets, breaking them, and they were back to their normal states.

"So the Shroobs must of have placed those helmets on them for mind-control…" Veronica guessed.

"I kind of felt bad for them…" Baby Luigi said.

"Whoa… My helmet antenna! It's broken! Oh, man, YESSS!" the Hammer Bro on the left cheered once he got up.

"Hey… Mine broke too! Talk about lucky! I mean, didja HEAR what was coming out of my mouth?" the other Hammer Bro replied once he also got up.

"I know, dude! Seriously, who talks like that?! Anyway, I think these tots freed us!" he directs to the group of youngsters.

"Ya think? You little taters trashed our antennas?"

"Yep!" Baby Mario nodded.

"You bet!" Young Sonic gave thumbs up.

"Right ON! Seriously, thanks! You saved our bacon. We were…not right in the head." The Hammer Bro on the left thanked. "So listen, you gotta let us thank you by hooking you up with these spare hammers!"

The Hammer Bros handed a hammer to both babies. Despite having a metal head, they weren't that heavy. At least for the babies.

"Wow! Thanks a lot!" Baby Mario thanked with a big smile.

"You're welcome, dude!" the Hammer Bro on the right replied. "Now YOU can be Hammer Bros! But we'd better teach you how to use 'em first."

The Hammer Bros taught Baby Mario and Baby Luigi the basic Hammer Swing, to smash any obstacles in the way, and the Baby Drill, where both baby brothers drill underground to pass under closed gates and find all sorts of buried things, like beans.

With those new hammers, the youngsters and Veronica moved on into the factory to rescue the adult heroes, who were taken somewhere into it. After solving a series of puzzles involving the use of the hammers, they soon reached a room with a giant tree, and saw the adult heroes' heads sticking out that tree's nostrils!

The babies broke the orbs strapped to the tree's roots, and eventually, the tree blew out air from its nostrils, releasing the adult heroes, who bounced around the room before colliding their heads with each other.

"UGH!" they groaned from the impact before falling on their butts to the ground.

 ***THUD!***

"Ow…" Luigi groaned as he rubbed his head.

"Is everyone okay?" Tails asked.

"Yeah…" Mario responded.

"At least we're out of that disgusting vacuum that looks like a nose." Sonic said as he and the rest gets up. "But who saved us?"

"Peek-a-boo!" Baby Mario said playfully as he jumps and tugs on Mario's pant leg.

"Babies!" Mario exclaimed with a big smile.

Mario picks up Baby Mario and begins to toss him into the air just like last time in Baby Bowser's Castle, Luigi picks up Baby Luigi and hugs him while crying and cuddling his cheek, Sonic and Young Sonic high-fived, and Tails and Young Tails did a double high-five as the young fox was flying with his tails (just like in the ending scene from _Sonic Generations_ ). Veronica stood there on the back, watching the two versions of the heroes having fun while smiling.

But then, another one of those nose-like vacuums came in and it blew out two Spiny Shroopas, making the heroes flinch before going into the battle.

The Spiny Shroopas tried to jump over the brothers, but the baby ones countered with their hammers, leaving the adult brothers surprised.

"Whoa! You actually got hammers?" Mario asked.

"Those two Hammer Brothers back there gave them to us!" Baby Mario explained.

"If that's the case, then I have an idea."

Mario went towards one of the Spiny Shroopas and lifted up Baby Mario above his head before the toddler smashed the Spiny Shroopa with his hammer and the help of his adult self, killing it instantly. Luigi then did the same to the other Spiny Shroopa with Baby Luigi.

"That was a close one!" Sonic let out a sigh.

"Neat trick, me!" Baby Mario exclaimed.

"I've learned a lot about using a hammer on my previous adventure at my time." Mario smiled.

"Well, we've finally reunited with the adult heroes. Now we can move on." Veronica interfered. "After all, you all want to shut down the operation and find the Cobalt Shard… Right?"

The heroes nodded and they all proceed further into the factory.

* * *

 _ **Later…**_

After many puzzles and beating down enemies, the heroes finally reached the supply room, where they saw a strange green Wiggler-like creature who appears to be taking a sip of the vim. Once it did, the back of this Wiggler was connected to cables with two electrical outlets that transported the vim it just slurped to the Shroob Saucers up above.

"That must be how the vim supply process works here, right, Veronica?" Mario guessed as he and the other adult heroes walked to the Wiggler.

"Yes, that Swiggler is the one who transfers the vim fuel to the Saucers." Veronica nodded.

"That kinda looks gross, if you ask me…" Sonic cringed a bit.

"Well, we have to find a way to make this process stop if we want to save the Toads." Tails said.

"Yeah, but how do we get-… OH NO!" Luigi eyed at something that was probably bad at the last sentence, causing his eyes to widen.

Confused at first, the rest of the adult heroes shifted their gaze at the same direction as Luigi, and also had their eyes widened.

They saw Baby Mario lifting his hammer, about to hit the cup that the Swiggler was drinking of, with Baby Luigi, Young Sonic and Young Tails panicking from behind.

"MARIO! What the heck are you doing?!" Young Sonic shouted.

"Getting rid of the fuel, obviously!" Baby Mario replied.

"NO! Don't do it!" Baby Luigi protested.

"What if you anger the Wiggler?!" Young Tails warned.

Baby Mario didn't listen to them and by swinging his hammer, he knocked down the glass, spilling all of the fuel on the floor. Of course, the Swiggler was not happy at all and did a loud roar as his body becomes red and grows a bit:

 ***ROOOOAAAR!***

"YIIIIKES!" Baby Luigi shrieked as he runs to his older self and tugs tightly on his pant leg. Luigi gave Baby Luigi a piggyback to calm him down.

"Nice going, Mario! You just created an even bigger problem!" Young Sonic hissed.

"How would I predict that?" Baby Mario questioned, trying to make an excuse.

"It doesn't matter! Let's just hurry and take care of that Wiggler!" Sonic demanded and stood in his fighting position.

The cables detached from the Swiggler as he begins to suck in air into his either nose or mouth before sending out a purple cloud of smoke towards the heroes. Thankfully, both Sonics got rid of the smoke by Spin Jumping on it.

Then, two Dr. Shroobs showed up on both sides and tries to attack the heroes by shooting out lasers from their guns, but the heroes jumped over them. Both doctors then pulled out a red and a white mushrooms each.

"Guys, be careful; if you stomp on them, they'll drop the mushroom they're carrying and it will land in the vim. If the red mushroom lands in last, the Swiggler will drink it and become stronger." Veronica warned. "So you'll have to knock the white mushroom in last."

"Got it!" the heroes replied.

Mario and Baby Mario stomped on the Dr. Shroob carrying the red mushroom, and it fell into the vim, followed by Luigi and Baby Luigi stomping on the Dr. Shroob carrying the white mushroom, and it also fell in the vim.

The Swiggler drank the vim, and it became neon green and weaker because of the white mushroom that landed in last, giving a chance for Young Tails to Spin Jump on its head. To get rid of the Dr. Shroobs faster, Tails shot at both of them with his arm cannon, which left his younger self astonished.

"Did you seriously shoot at them with an arm cannon?!" Young Tails asked in surprise.

"Yep! This is the latest high-tech arm cannon I've made by myself!" Tails said.

"Cool! I've always wanted an arm cannon!"

"Maybe I could invent one for you sooner."

"INCOMING!" Sonic shouted out loud as shockwaves caused by Swiggler's stomping was coming after the heroes. They quickly jumped over them, but the Swiggler was so pissed that his guards were destroyed that he continues to create more shockwaves.

"Hold still!" Veronica casts her time-stopping spell and the Swiggler was frozen in place.

"That was so god damn close!" Sonic removed his sweat from his forehead.

"Mario! Luigi! Baby Mario! Baby Luigi! Use this!" Veronica uses her magic to summon a Fire Flower on her hand and tosses it into the air.

"A Fire Flower! Thanks, Veronica!" Mario thanked her as the Fire Flower dissolves and its particles falls over Mario, Luigi and their baby counterparts' heads.

The brothers' clothes, including their baby selves, changed to their Fire Flower appearances, and the four begin to charge up their fireballs and shot as many as them at the frozen Swiggler. Once the time-stopping effect wore off, the Swiggler was already defeated and the Fire Flower effect on the past and future brothers wears off.

The Swiggler faces defeat on the ground before exploding into another Cobalt Shard.

"Hey! It's the second Cobalt Shard!" Tails exclaimed.

"Great! We now have two pieces!" Mario said as he takes the Cobalt Shard.

"Woohoo!" Baby Mario and Baby Luigi cheered.

"Sweet! Let's take it and-… Huh?"

However, Sonic was interrupted when a familiar figure zoomed past him and began to run in circles, catching everyone's attention:

"Eh?" Luigi did.

"Hm?" Mario did.

"Waa?" Baby Luigi did.

"Wha-?" Baby Mario did.

"What the-?" Young Sonic did.

"Wait a minute! Is that…?" Young Tails recognized the figure.

The figure couldn't stop running in circles and it made the heroes just stand there and keep their eyes on it. Because of that, they ended up becoming dizzy, and the two Cobalt Shards flew out from Mario's pocket and it landed on the ground. Once the figure stopped running, it revealed that it was actually Baby Bowser and he snatched the two Cobalt Shards!

"GWAH HA HA! LOOOOSERS!" he laughed. "Thought you could get away with stealing MY treasure from MY castle, did ya? It's payback time! I'll take MY treasure…plus whatever you just picked up as compensation!"

" _What a spoiled child he is…_ " Veronica thought after she got rid of her dizziness while glaring at Baby Bowser.

"Prince Bowser! Let's scram!" Kamek suddenly came in flying on his broom.

Veronica watched Baby Bowser leaving with his Clown Cart while following Kamek out of the factory.

"Ooh… Could this day get any worse?" she whimpered.

"Cruel fate!" Stuffwell came out of Mario's pocket. "We finally succeed in recovering the second shard and now this happens… Shame cycle initiated. We must return to our own time and rework our strategy."

"No worries, Stuffwell. I can take everybody back to the present with my magic. But first, they have to snap out of it first…" Veronica sweatdropped. Stuffwell jumps back inside Mario's pocket.

Soon, the heroes shook their heads to get rid of their dizziness.

"Ugh… What happened?" Sonic groaned.

"Baby Bowser just swiped the two Cobalt Shards…" Veronica told them.

"He WHAT?! OH CRAP!"

"Just our luck… Now where did they went off to now?" Mario questioned.

"I'm not sure, but we better head back to the present and tell the news to E. Gadd." Veronica said. "Come close to me; I'll use my time-traveling magic to send all of us back quickly without the use of a time hole."

Veronica concentrates and a bright while light engulfed the group. The light grew brighter and the heroes vanished from sight.

* * *

Once they opened their eyes, they found themselves riding a much different version of the vortex: it was now bright light-blue with a sparkling white spiral. After the vortex ride, they reappeared at the castle's garden instead of the room where the time hole leading to Toadwood Forest currently was.

They wasted no time in heading to the throne room, where E. Gadd was waiting for them.

"About time you all showed!" E. Gadd turns around. "Ran into some persnickety obstacles, did you?"

"A lot, to say the least…" Young Sonic sweatdropped.

Stuffwell came out and immediately told the Professor:

"I am deep in a shame cycle, Professor. We nearly had a pair of fragments, but... That young Bowser fellow made off with them both."

"Heh heh heh…" E. Gadd laughed. "Now, now, no need to get your leather lathered. There've been new time holes popping up here faster than toast on Sunday morning!"

"Wait… You mean…" Veronica was speechless.

Then, two earthquakes came in and four new time holes showed up in different rooms of the castle.

"Wow… Hold up, now that more time holes showed up, I'm getting a reading of another Cobalt Star energy from one of them…"

"Really? From which one, Veronica?" Tails asked.

"It's from the time hole at the second floor of the castle. I bet that time hole will lead us to where Baby Bowser made his escape in the past."

"If you say so… Mario! Luigi! Sonic! Tails! We must chase! We MUST have redemptitude!" Stuffwell demanded.

"Heh heh heh…" E. Gadd laughed again. "Look now, before you rush off, I think it'd be wise to survey the rest of the castle. And another thing! There's a noisy feller from the past running around with a baby and a child."

"That sounds like Toadsworth! Eh… Our Toadsworth, I meant!" Young Tails gasped. "And he's still with our Amy and Peach!"

"Can you all make sure there's no hoopla out there?" E. Gadd requested.

The group nodded and went outside. There, they found both Toadsworths trying to entertain a crying Baby Peach, with Young Amy standing on her side. They managed to do it successfully by doing what they called the Toadsworth Twist. Mario and Luigi found that move quite interesting and they asked the Toadsworths to teach it for then. With that, the older brothers learned the famous Spin Jump, just like from their previous adventure at the Beanbean Kingdom.

With this new move, the heroes followed Veronica to the current time hole located at the second floor, in the castle's library. They jumped in, ready for their next destination in the past.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **I decided to not include Toadiko and Toadbert into my story because it would make the plot too complicated for me. Maybe that's also a reference of how both characters doesn't show up in the _Super Mario-Kun_ manga series, where in the volumes showing the story of _Partners in Time_ have a lot of differences compared to the original game. Some of those differences will be applied to my version of the story.**

 **I was quite disappointed that Baby Mario and Baby Luigi's clothes doesn't change when they use a Fire Flower in the game (which explains why Mario and Luigi's clothes doesn't change as well), so I decided to include that missing opportunity in here!**

 **Two Cobalt Shards were found! But it looks like Baby Bowser stole them... Next chapter taking place in Yoshi's Island coming soon! Please review.**


	6. Yoshi's Island

**Sixth chapter done!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Yoshi's Island**

The nine heroes' next destination in the past was Yoshi's Island; a bright and colorful island inhabited by many Yoshi species. It features various landscapes like tall mountains, dense jungles, and relaxing beaches. The time hole where the heroes came from took them to the entrance of Yoshi Village.

"Hey! I remember this place! This is Yoshi's Island!" Baby Mario exclaimed. "I had adventures with the Yoshis in here! Good times! Good times!"

" ***sigh*** only for you…" Baby Luigi sighed.

"Golly…now that you mentioned it, I'm also starting to have bad memories of this place." Luigi lamented.

"What seems to be the matter?" Young Tails asked.

"When Mario and Luigi were still newborns, Kamek tried to kidnap them, but only succeeded with Luigi, whereas Mario ended up landing in Yoshi's Island." Veronica explained. "The Yoshis helped him reunite with his little brother before they were successfully delivered to their parents."

"Never expected for Luigi to have such a bad childhood…" Young Sonic said.

"That made me feel bad, actually…" Sonic stated.

"Anyways, maybe we should check on the village and see if everything is fine." Mario told them. "I just hope nothing bad happened already."

* * *

They all made their way to the Yoshi Village. However, while everything in this village would be noisy and cheerful, now everything seemed…quiet and deserted…

"That's strange… It's so quiet!" Tails puzzled. "What happened?"

"Wait a minute… Is it just me, or am I seeing giant footprints all over?" Luigi noticed these suspicious giant footprints on the ground that were shaped like a Yoshi's shoes.

"Nope. You're not the only one, because I'm seeing them too." Baby Luigi replied.

"Well, that's because you're me."

"Guys! Look over here!" Young Tails called out.

He directed the group to a cracked large magenta Yoshi Egg with green spots resting on a nest consistent of grass and surrounded by wooden poles.

"Those footprints seem to have originated from that egg!" Tails concluded.

"Does that mean there's actually a huge Yoshi wandering around the island?!" Luigi questioned in a frightening tone.

"I'd rather not think about it…" Baby Luigi shuddered.

"What I want to ask is: why is that hut over there open?" Sonic asked, pointing to an opened hut.

"Only one way to find out. Let's enter it." Young Sonic said.

They went inside the hut…only to get a camera flash in their eyes:

 ***SNAP!***

"OUCH!" they yelled as they covered their eyes.

"Oof… Is it normal to see spots?" Baby Mario asked while blinking from the camera flash, seeing strange spots in his point of view (just like when you look into the light for too long).

"It's not normal to flash a camera in the eyes…" Veronica groaned, rubbing her eyes.

At their front, there was a female pink-shelled Koopa with a green hat, pink ribbon bows on both sides of her head, pink eyeshadow and pink boots, with her camera hanging on her neck.

"Aw, whatta lemon! And this film ain't cheap, neither!" she grumbled.

"Umm… What are you talking about?" Tails asked.

"I was primed for a scoop, and all I get are whiskers, animals, a fairy and a coupla sap babies!"

The heroes looked at each other for a second with awkward expressions before Mario asked:

"Well, then… But who are you?"

"Huh? Me?" the Koopa replied. She then does a spin before striking a pose. "Kylie Koopa, ace reporter! The Koopa Kronicle's best!"

"A reporter? More like a photographer, actually." Sonic pointed out.

"Anyhoo, you know about the giant egg, yeah? Why, it just appeared!" Kylie said. "And THIS dame's got a hunch it's connected to the Shroobs."

" _Did she just say SHROOBS?!_ " all of the heroes thought. Kylie continued:

"I thought I'd get the straight dope from the locals, but… This place is like a morgue! Where is everybody?"

"That's exactly what we thought when we came here." Tails threw in.

"Rather fishy, if you ask me." Young Sonic added.

"And speaking of fishy, this jump platform positively reeks of mystery. REEKS of it!" Kylie directed to a yellow spring at her side. "But…I hopped up there, and it didn't do doodley-squat. I wonder if I'm too heavy for it…"

"If that's the case, why not let the babies and the youngsters take a look?" Veronica suggested.

"Sure!" Baby Mario nodded.

The kids went to the spring and jumped on it, sending them high above the ceiling.

"Ritzy work!" Kylie congratulated.

What was up there? A hiding place where all of the Yoshis were after been considered disappeared. One of the Yoshis, which was a green one, recognized Baby Mario.

"Mario? Is that really you?" he asked in surprise.

"Yoshi! It's been so long!" Baby Mario replied happily as they both shared a hug. He then eyed at the baby Yoshi that the green Yoshi was holding on his arms. "Hey, is that a baby Yoshi?"

"Yep! He was born right after you and your brother were sent back to your parents!" the green Yoshi replied. "And I think he gave a liking to you and your brother!"

"Yo Yoshi!" Baby Yoshi chirped in a high-pitched voice as he rubs Baby Mario and Baby Luigi's heads.

"Hehehehehehe!" both baby brothers giggled.

"Shh!" that fun moment was interrupted when a Light-Blue Yoshi shushed. "Don't make noise!"

"Why?" Young Tails whispered.

All of a sudden, noisy footsteps were heard, followed up by a roar:

 ***ROOOOAAAR!***

"NOOO! WE MUST FLEE!" a Pink Yoshi panicked.

With that, all of the Yoshis jumped down the hole and the adult heroes and Kylie were astonished by seeing all of the Yoshis flee.

"What? What?" Kylie was confused. She then smiled again and striked the same pose from before. "Ooh, this reporter just got that front-page fever!" she then dashes out of the hut.

Soon, the infants came down from the hole.

"I wonder what that roar was?" Young Tails wondered.

"We have to go outside and see." Veronica told them as they exited the hut.

* * *

However, they found themselves under a large shadow upon their exit.

"Uh… Did it get dark all of a sudden?" Baby Luigi questioned.

" **#$ &&&&&&!" **they heard that roar again.

"Uh, guys… Look above us…" Tails gulped nervously as he points up at the roof.

"Huh? What is it-… WHAT IN THE WORLD?!" Luigi shouted out loud in horror. "IT IS WORSE THAN I THOUGHT!"

They saw a giant, fat Shroobfied Yoshi with a magenta skin, black spines, black saddle, blue shoes, green underbelly, black irises with red pupils and pincers replacing the fingers. That Shroobfied Yoshi was known as Yoob.

" **#$ &&&&&&!" **Yoob roared again.

"Hurry! Back inside!" Sonic called out as they all ran back inside the hut, and Yoob jumped off the roof.

He then stomps towards to the Light-Blue Yoshi, who was cowering in fear, and latches his tongue at him.

"WAAAA-!" the Light-Blue Yoshi screamed as he was swallowed inside.

Yoob turns around and jumps down the ledge, and Kylie rushed behind him and started to take pictures.

"WHATTA SCOOP! It's huge!" she exclaimed. "Exclusive! Stop the presses!"

However, Yoob turned around and latched his tongue at Kylie too, swallowing her.

"Aw, raspberries! My scoop snacked me! Yick! It's all so…ooky and gooky!" Kylie cringed as Yoob was munching her. He then spat her out, and she began moving back and forth in her shell.

Yoob found a cowering Yellow Yoshi and swallowed him too. Soon, the green Yoshi came in, still holding Baby Yoshi on his arms.

"YOU! RELEASE THEM!" the green Yoshi yelled, only for Yoob to turn around. "Doh." He sweatdropped before getting swallowed, causing him to drop Baby Yoshi.

" **#$ &&&&&&!" **Yoob roared again and began to make his way to the hut where the heroes were hiding, ignoring Baby Yoshi for some reason. However, Baby Yoshi was wailing because of the loud roar.

Back inside the hut, the heroes were trying their best to not panic and make a noise, but were startled when Yoob's tongue tried to reach for them:

"WOAH!"

They immediately ran to the hut's corners to not get caught by the tongue.

"No way I'll become a Yoshi snack again since last time Yoshi ate me at the Power Tennis Tournament!" Luigi panicked, remembering back when he was accidentally eaten when Yoshi won the Rainbow Cup Tournament in the events of _Mario Power Tennis_.

"Comin' through!" Kylie's voice came as she, still retreated in her shell, zoomed in the hut and bounced on the walls before getting out again.

After a few more noises, everything became quiet again.

"Um… What just happened?" Young Sonic broke the silence.

"Should we check outside?" Young Tails hesitated as he and his adult self peeked out from the hut.

"I don't see any sights of that giant Yoshi, so I think we're clear, for now." Tails stated.

As the heroes exited the hut, Kylie came back to them, holding Baby Yoshi on her arms.

"Huff… Huff…" she panted. "I haven't been this jazzed in a Blargg's age!" she places the now calm Baby Yoshi next to the baby brothers and she strikes her pose. "I can see the headline now! 'Monster Yoob from Shroob on Ravenous Rampage!' Tops! Why, I saw an evil-looking Magikoopa head into that building just now, but… Gotta concentrate on this story! This could be my big beak!" she then leaves.

"A Magikoopa, huh? Yup, that's definitely Kamek." Sonic confirmed.

"Indeed." Mario nodded. He and Luigi then took a moment to watch Baby Yoshi playing with Baby Mario and Baby Luigi together, which made them crack a smile. "I can tell that our relationship with Yoshi has started ever since we were younger."

"Yeah. No wonder why Yoshi loves to go along with us in some of our adventures." Luigi added.

* * *

After the baby brothers' playtime with their dinosaur friend, everyone went into the other hut. Veronica was holding Baby Yoshi on her arms in any case Yoob comes back and eats him too. Upon entering the hut, they spotted Kamek looking around the room.

"Snacks… Must find snacks…" he mused. He then saw some Yoshi Cookies on the floor. "Score! And doesn't look like anyone's home, so I'll just help myself to the goods. You gotta wonder why this place is so empty, though…" he takes a few Cookies and placed them into his sack.

"Stealing Yoshi Cookies from a Yoshi… You absolutely have no soul." Mario spoke sternly at Kamek from behind.

"Whoa!" Kamek flinched as he turns around. "You hairy and animal jerks again! Chased me all the way to this stupid island, have you?"

"Give us the Cobalt Shards back, nerdy magician!" Sonic growled.

"Hey look, young lad, I got my own problems. I'm on a snack run for Prince Bowser. He's on the cliff top." Kamek protested. "So I don't have time for you guys! These snacks ain't gonna snack on themselves!" he then dashed off.

"Heh, good job for telling us where Prince Bowser is, stupid." Young Sonic smirked.

They exited the hut, just in time to witness Kamek standing face to face with Yoob:

"YAAAAAACK!" he screamed as he gets swallowed by Yoob, but was spat back out and Yoob jumped into the sea.

"Hey, what's your beef, pal? I'm not tasty enough for you?! I'm prime Koopa, you snob!" Kamek yelled. "You're lucky I'm in a rush. I gotta get these snacks to the prince, pronto, or I would whip that snooty pink tail for you." He casts a spell at a hut, opening it before going inside.

They heroes, of course, followed him into the hut in order to exit the Yoshi Village. Once they reached another hut, they saw Kamek flying away on his broom.

"Keep going! After him!" Sonic demanded.

But when they entered the hut, they noticed that Kamek had accidentally dropped some Yoshi Cookies on the floor.

"Are those… Yoshi Cookies?" Tails asked.

"Yoshi!" Baby Yoshi nodded.

"Kamek must of have dropped them all." Veronica guessed.

"Whatever the case, we better continue following him. Let's go!" Mario said as they exited the hut, but not before Luigi decided to pick up the Cookies and keep them into his pocket and was about to eat one until he eyed at Baby Luigi.

"May I have it…please?" Baby Luigi begged while doing cute puppy eyes.

Luigi couldn't resist his younger self's puppy eyes and smiled: "All right. You can have it." He hands the Cookie to Baby Luigi.

"Yay! Thanks!" he thanked before immediately munching on the Cookie. "Yummy!"

"Aww…" Luigi awed.

He then went ahead with his baby self on piggyback to catch up with the others.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **If Baby Mario and Baby Luigi are in the game, we could definitely expect Yoshi's Island to show up, right? I even decided to add a Baby Yoshi to indicate the brothers' relationship with the regular Yoshi we know and love. And that part where Luigi gave his younger self the Yoshi Cookie made me go "Aww..."  
**

 **Are the heroes going to catch up with Kamek and get the Cobalt Shards back? Find out in the next chapter! Please review.**


	7. Eaten Alive!

**Done with the next chapter!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Eaten Alive!**

The heroes reached the Yoshi Mountain through a Warp Pipe, since they got the information from Kamek when he took the Yoshi Cookies from a hut. They eventually encounter Kamek on his broom shortly after.

Seeing them, Kamek tried to move to the left, but the Mario Bros blocked his way, and kept moving along with Kamek to prevent him from escaping. Kamek soon gives up and scolds:

"Boy, you doofuses just get on a Koopa's tail and STAY there, don'tcha?"

"Said the overgrown flying turtle who's annoying as hell." Sonic teased.

"Hey! That was a NICE one!" Young Sonic complemented while high-fiving his adult self.

"Grr…" Kamek growled quietly. "Well, try this on for size…"

He flies to different portions of the area and casts flames on them. After that, he goes back to the group and mocked:

"Zip! Zap! Zow! Unless those garments are fireproof, you're gonna barbecue, you weenies! Give up now! You really think you're tough? Then make it to the cliff top, losers! I'd LOVE to see it!" he then leaves.

"Yep, I was right all along; that guy is so annoying!" Sonic growled.

"For some reason, I'm kinda feeling thirsty right now…" Baby Mario said. He notices a fountain spraying water nearby. "Oh! Water!"

He climbs down his adult self's back and goes to the fountain to have a sip. But then, he ended up becoming tubbified like how Mario became once at the previous adventure.

"Hmm, that gave me an idea!" Baby Luigi exclaimed and climbed down his adult self's back and walked to his pumped brother. "Big bro! Head towards that flame! I know what to do!"

Despite not being able to talk, Pump Baby Mario gave a nod and stood a few feet away from the flame. Then, Baby Luigi took out his hammer and hit Pump Baby Mario, causing him to spit out some of the water and once it hit the flame, it doused out, allowing further progress.

"That's it! We could use Baby Mario's pump ability to douse out the flames!" Tails confirmed. "Let's douse the rest!"

* * *

They moved on, dousing all of the flames with Pump Baby Mario. Just by doing that was enough for them to reach the top of the cliff, after walking a lot, where they saw Baby Bowser eating the pile of Yoshi Cookies with Kamek watching him. To not get spotted, the group decided to hide behind a platform's ledge and peek out.

"HURK! HACK!" Baby Bowser choked and coughed.

"Prince Bowser, LITTLE bites!" Kamek warned as he walks to him. "Oh, here, have some milk. It's, uh, from an evil cow."

Kamek hands Baby Bowser a cup of warm milk and he drinks it.

"AHHHH! Nothing quite like good cookies and evil milk!" Baby Bowser said. "Get it? Cookies and Milk?"

" _How original…_ " Sonic thought while rolling his eyes. Baby Bowser continues:

"I was a little creeped out at first, hanging out in this ghost town, but… Then I realized there was no one to stop me from eating every cookie in sight! Yesss!"

"Yeah… It's been…great." Kamek replied, trying to hide the fact that the heroes tried to stop him from Baby Bowser.

"Trying to fake out? Too bad! We're already here!" Baby Mario came out of his hiding spot.

"Ack! Baby alert!" Kamek shouted. Then, the rest of the heroes came out from hiding.

"Grrrr! What are you chumps doing here?" Baby Bowser growled.

"We're here for the cookies AND the Cobalt Shard pieces that you hold!" Young Sonic hissed.

"Bwah ha ha!" Baby Bowser laughed as he walks to the group. Unknown to everyone, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi snuck by and started to eat the cookies rapidly at the pile. "You've gotta be kidding! You stole the treasure in the FIRST place! So YOU'RE the bad guys! Duh! So all this stuff stays MINE!"

"Not only you're acting as a spoiled child, but you're also acting very greedy, you know that?" Veronica said in a cold tone while folding her arms. "Children should have love and respect, making them have pure and good souls. I, as with many other fairies, respect only those kind of children. And you're out of our list."

"I don't care about that! And you are NOT getting these things!" Baby Bowser shouted angrily. "I'll have THIS!" he showed the two Cobalt Shards. "…AND THOSE!" he turned to the cookie pile…only to find out that ALL of the cookies were gone, eaten by the baby brothers.

"Mmm… They were delicious!" Baby Mario licked his lips.

"Ahhh… That hit the spot…" Baby Luigi sighed in satisfaction while rubbing his cookie-filled belly.

"OH NO!" Baby Bowser shouted in frustration. "STINKY BABIES!"

"Now, now, boys, that's not done." Veronica flew to Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, speaking like a responsible mother, making the toddler brothers look crestfallen with guilty expressions. "I know you did that because Baby Bowser stole them, but those cookies belonged to the Yoshis, you know."

"Sorry…" both baby brothers apologized.

"Good."

"Golly... Veronica really acted as a mother to us!" Baby Luigi said in a surprised tone to his brother.

"Boy… Never knew she would do that..." Baby Mario replied.

"Prince Bowser! Take it easy!" Kamek went to Baby Bowser, trying to calm him down as he drags him away slowly.

"Hrmph… Cookies…" Baby Bowser growled quietly.

"Leave this rabble to me. You just go walk it off, Your Hungriness!"

"Grrrr!" Baby Bowser becomes so mad that he stomps the ground. "You punks got LUCKY, hear me? Stealing food? Who DOES that?! You'll PAY for those cookies!" he soon calms down and tells Kamek: "Oh, all right, fine! FINE! Kamek… I'm counting on you to finish these snackaholics!" he runs off.

"Whew…" Kamek sighed in relief before summoning his broom and leaps on it. "You guys are really starting to chap my shell. I'm gonna yank out all those mustache and fur hairs…AFTER I beat those cookies out of you!"

Kamek pulled out his wand and creates spiked balls above the heroes and sent them falling down. Luckily, the baby brothers knocked them back at Kamek with their hammers, while the Sonics and Tailses avoided them. Veronica used her powers to slow down her spiked ball's falling before she avoided it.

Suddenly, Kamek used his magic to split into five!

"GYAH! YAH! GWAH! Oooh, which one's the REAL me?" the real Kamek taunted.

"Spoke too soon!" Sonic taunted back as he and his younger self attacked the real Kamek by Home Attacking and Spin Jumping respectively.

"AAACK!" Kamek screamed as he fell to the ground.

Taking this advantage, Tails decided to hand something to his younger self: "Here." He hands the young fox a smaller version of his arm cannon.

"Wow! An arm cannon? For me?!" Young Tails exclaimed.

"Yep! I had time to make one for you while we were dousing the fire through the mountain." Tails smiled. "I've already tested it too, so don't worry." He then equips his own arm cannon. "Ready to blast it?"

Young Tails nodded and both foxes shot a plasma blast at the downed Kamek before he finally manages to get back on his feet.

"Yay! This is cool!" Young Tails chirped.

"EAT FIRE!" Kamek yelled as he casts flames at them, but Veronica stopped them in place with her magic. "What?! NO!" Kamek didn't believe that.

"Ain't nobody got TIME for that!" Sonic joked, which made the group laugh.

"GRRR! This is NOT FUNNY!" Kamek growled.

"Use this to finish him, Mario Brothers!" Veronica summons a cannon and placed it next to Baby Mario.

"Nice! Cannonballer!" Baby Mario exclaimed.

Luigi, Mario, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi jumped inside the cannon in this exact order and were launched in the air, following their trajectory to Kamek. This Bros Attack concludes with the four stomping Kamek, one after another, defeating him.

"Yeah! That'll teach you to not mess with us!" Young Sonic smirked.

"Yoooorgh…" Kamek groaned in defeat, now lying on the ground, motionless.

"Well, then…" Tails sweatdropped. "Didn't expect that."

"At least he's out of the way. Now let's track down Baby Bowser." Mario told them before venturing on.

* * *

With Baby Bowser, he had just skid to a halt when he faced a dead end at his front.

"Grrrr! Unbelievable! A stupid dead end!" Baby Bowser shouted in frustration.

"End of the line, Bowser!" Mario's voice came from behind him. He turned around to see the heroes glaring at him.

"You again! You just don't give up, do you?!" Baby Bowser hissed, but then smirked at the last sentence as he pulls out the Cobalt Shards. "Eat my cookies, will you? Fine! I'll eat the treasure instead!"

To their shock, Baby Bowser ate the two Cobalt Shards right in front of their eyes!

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!" Sonic shouted in shock.

"Urr…" Baby Bowser grumbled as he held his belly, until he cracked an evil smile. "Wow! Yum! Those shards were DEE-licious!"

"You… You're gonna pay SO HARD for THAT!" Sonic yelled.

"Yeah! Let's hold him, me!" Young Sonic said.

Both Sonics walked towards Baby Bowser and held him by his sides.

"Hey! What're you… LEGGO!" Baby Bowser demanded while struggling from the Sonics' grasp.

"TAKE THIS!" Baby Mario jumped on Baby Bowser a couple of times with all his strength to try to force the shards out of him. "Come on! Spit them out NOW!"

"OOF! YURK! BLURP!" Baby Bowser groaned from Baby Mario's stomps.

"Do it, Big Bro! Harder!" Baby Luigi cheered from the sidelines.

"Wait… Do you guys hear that?" Veronica heard a familiar noise.

They stopped what they were doing and looked behind them, seeing some Shroob Saucers flying by. Two of those Saucers came back and looked at the group before leaving.

"…What are these Saucers doing here?" Luigi questioned.

Just then, another type of noise was heard.

"And what was that other noise?" Tails added.

If we get a full view of the mountain, we can see that Yoob was trying to climb up, but accidentally slid down, causing that other noise heard by the heroes. Three Shroob Saucers came back and one of them shot a laser at Yoob, causing him to grow in size, and was now staring at the group!

"Is…that who I think it is…?" Young Tails gulped.

"Uh oh…" Baby Luigi murmured.

" **%$ &#####!" **Yoob roared loudly, flinching the group, including Baby Bowser.

"RUN FOR IT!" Mario shouted in panic as everyone dashed off.

However, their progress was stopped when they were startled by Yoob's tongue, trying to eat them. Luckily, the tongue barely missed them.

"That was one heck of a close call!" Sonic's eyes widened.

" **%$ &#####!" **Yoob roared again and latched his tongue to try to eat the young heroes.

"LOOK OUT!" Veronica got in front of the youngsters, but unfortunately ended up getting caught by the tongue. "AAAAHH!" she was eaten.

"VERONICA!" the four young heroes cried out, while the adult ones gasped in shock.

Soon, Baby Bowser arrived…at the worst time, because he was the next victim to get caught by the tongue. "OH NO!" he gets eaten.

"This is not good!" Luigi panicked, only to be grabbed by Yoob's tongue next. "GAAAH!" he screamed as he was eaten, followed by Baby Luigi, Young Tails, Young Sonic, Baby Mario, Tails, Sonic and Mario.

" **%$ &#####!" **Yoob roared once again.

* * *

What just happened to our heroes…?

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **What's going to happen next? Find out in the next chapter! Please review.  
**


	8. Yoob's Inside Story

**I just realized that I completely forgot about Baby Yoshi in the previous chapter. My bad...**

 **But thankfully, I'll mention him more in this chapter!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Yoob's Inside Story**

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Baby Mario, Baby Luigi and Baby Yoshi wailed out loud, which woke Luigi up.

"Uhhh…" he groaned as he got up. He then noticed the three crying babies. "Oh, great… What do I do?!" he had no idea how he would calm down three babies at once. "GUYS! A little help here! Guys!" he tried calling for Mario, Sonic, Tails, Young Sonic, Young Tails and Veronica, who were all lying on the ground unconscious, but they wouldn't wake up. The wailing then becomes louder. "Ohhh, come on!" Luigi facepalmed. "Okey… Guess it's worth a shot…"

He tried to call the babies' attention by calling them playfully and even doing a funny face in front of Baby Mario, but they didn't stop crying.

"PLEASE, guys! I need help! Wake UP!" Luigi called out for his downed friends, but they still wouldn't wake up. "Urrrrgh!" he grunted stressfully; how is he going to calm down the babies without his friends? Soon, he got an idea: "Oh! I know! This will definitely calm them down!" he reaches through something in his pocket. "I just hope there's still enough space left in their stomachs."

What did he pull out? Three Yoshi Cookies! Once the babies eyed at them, they immediately stopped crying and big smiles showed up on their faces.

"Yay! Cookies!" Baby Mario and Baby Luigi squealed.

"Yaaaaaaaaay!" Baby Yoshi cheered.

"Here you go!" Luigi handed each baby a cookie and watched them munching on these tasty snacks.

"Cookies are soooo tasty!" Baby Mario exclaimed with cookie crumbles in his mouth.

"Yoshi! Yoshi!" Baby Yoshi chirped as he swallows the whole cookie with his tongue.

"Phew…" Luigi let out a sigh of relief.

"Ugh…" he then heard Sonic's groan. The entire group was now awake.

"Oh, thank god you're awake, guys!" Luigi said. " _Even though I've already calmed the babies down by myself…_ " he thought.

"Uh… Where are we?" Young Tails asked.

"I surmise we're inside that beast's gastric chambers…" Stuffwell said after coming out of Mario's pocket.

"Yuck..." Sonic cringed.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Young Sonic sweatdropped.

"Well that's a first, getting eaten by a monstrous Yoshi." Tails said.

"Yeah, but what's next? Getting eaten by Bowser?" Mario questioned.

"Oh, hell no! ***sigh*** good lord, Mario… Don't give any funny ideas when we get back home." Luigi glared at him.

"Young Bowser and his bellyful of star shards should be in here somewhere, as well." Stuffwell stated. "I suggest we find him and get out of here with all speed." He flies back into Mario's pocket.

"Way for stealing my words…" Sonic rolled his eyes.

Veronica then saw a very tiny opening on the other side of the wall.

"Hmm…" she pondered. "Guys, I can see through this wall. But we can't go through it."

"I wonder if the babies can." Tails wondered.

Hearing that, Baby Luigi walked towards the tiny gap and tried to fit through it, but he couldn't.

"Nope. Too small." He shook his head.

"Then how about we take that spring over there?" Baby Mario pointed to a spring at the far right. "It's small enough for us. Maybe we can find something up there."

"You have a point. Let's hop on it." Young Sonic said.

"We'll wait for you here." Veronica assured.

With that, the youngsters jumped on the spring and it launched them upwards.

"Eh?" Baby Mario did.

They saw the green Yoshi trying to push a large boulder towards the hole. The young kids were confused at that.

"Push! Push!" the green Yoshi struggled.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing?" Baby Luigi asked.

"Trying to push this boulder." The green Yoshi answered. "If I can get this rolling, it should make a way outta here. Can't seem to budge it on my own, though…" he then attempts again.

"Hm… It DOES seem likely that rolling that giant boulder down the hole we just came from will expand that tight passage…" Young Tails pointed out.

"So we have to find a way to move this boulder somehow!" Young Sonic told them.

"Yoshi, yo yo Yoshi!" Baby Yoshi spoke.

"Hold on, I think Yoshi is trying to say something…" Baby Mario pondered. "I've been listening to Yoshi Language since I was a newborn, so maybe I can understand him."

He analyzed Baby Yoshi's movements one by one. After he was done, Baby Mario came up with a conclusion:

"I think he was trying to say that there may be other Yoshis wandering around in here. Perhaps if we find all of them, that boulder could move!"

"Hey! That's it! All of the Yoshis were swallowed by that monster Yoshi too!" Young Tails confirmed. "But all of them got separated? That makes me worried for them!"

"Alright, but first of all, we gotta call our older selves to us!" Baby Luigi stated as he hits a Warp Block, making a Warp Pipe appear and the rest of the group came out of it.

"You actually found a way to send us to you?" Mario was surprised. "Tell us, what did you see?"

The young heroes explained everything to the adults.

"So we have to go on a Yoshi hunt, huh? I can see different rooms in this chamber, by the way. I suppose they'll lead us to where the Yoshis are." Sonic said, directing to the rooms.

"I suggest we split up so that we can get the job done quickly." Veronica suggested. "You guys go with each of your younger selves while I'll go with Baby Yoshi."

They all nodded and split up to each room.

* * *

 _ **At the west side of Yoob's Belly…**_

Sonic and his younger self entered the room, were they found an RC Shroober threatening a red Yoshi with a radio-controlled moving bomb.

" **%)$"** the RC Shroober sung.

"Help!" the red Yoshi cried for help.

"This Shroob deserves a lesson!" Sonic glared at the RC Shroober.

"You bet!" Young Sonic glared next before calling out to get the RC Shroober's attention: "Hey! You there!"

The RC Shroober heard him and turned around to spot the two Sonics. He then sent the moving bomb towards them. The bomb stood in front of the Sonics for quite a while, and surprisingly enough it didn't explode yet.

"Okay, this is getting boring…" Sonic rolled his eyes before destroying the bomb with his Spin Dash.

"Seriously? That's all you got?" Young Sonic teased.

" **# &!" **the RC Shroober's eyes twitched as he ran straight for them.

"Guess we'll settle this with a fray!" Sonic grinned as he and his younger self stood in their fighting stances.

The RC Shroober uses his antenna to command a flying bomb at the Sonics, but they dodged it and the bomb blew up by itself. After that, Young Sonic did a Spin Jump while Sonic did a Homing Attack at the RC Shroober.

The RC Shroober tried to use that same bomb again. Young Sonic dodged it while Sonic does a Homing Kick at it to send it to the RC Shroober, killing him.

"Neat skills, me!" Young Sonic high-fived his adult self.

"You're welcome! You'll be able to master them once you grow up!" Sonic replied.

"I will? Cool!"

The red Yoshi got up, thankful for the Sonics killing the Shroob. "Thanks!" he thanked. The Sonics then told him about the dilemma at the main chamber. "Huh? Escape?" he then ran off, lending a hand to the green Yoshi with pushing the boulder. Even that, two Yoshis still weren't enough.

* * *

 _ **At the northwest side of Yoob's Belly…**_

Luigi and his younger self came upon a large bright red wall in the room. What was surprising for them is that they heard a Yoshi's voice from behind the wall:

"Isn't there anybody who can help me?"

"Did you hear that? There's a Yoshi trapped on the other side!" Luigi said. His younger self nodded. "The good question is: how do we get him out?"

"Wow! Lookie! Colorful balls!" Baby Luigi eyed at a row of colorful balls above the cell's door. The order of the balls' colors were blue, yellow, blue, red, yellow, blue, yellow, red, red, yellow, blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow and blue.

"It kinda looks like some sort of code…" Luigi inspected the balls. He then noticed a small opening on the far right side of the wall where only his baby self could pass. "Hey! Me! Could you try to memorize the order of the colors shown here and then go down that opening?"

"Sure!" Baby Luigi nodded. It took a couple of seconds for him to memorize all of the colors, but once he was finished, he went inside the opening.

On the other side, there were tons of colorful buttons that light in the same three colors as the balls seen outside.

"Oh, that explains it." Baby Luigi pointed out. "Alright, here goes nothing!" he took out his hammer.

 _ **Some button hitting later…**_

" ***bang!*** …yellow… ***bang!*** …red… ***bang!*** …blue… ***bang!*** …yellow…and… ***bang!*** …BLUE!"

At the same time, when Baby Luigi completed the row of buttons, the door leading to the imprisoned Yoshi opened. The toddler then emerged out from the opening.

"Good job!" Luigi congratulated.

"No problem!" Baby Luigi replied with a smile.

The Luigis went through the opened door and greeted the Yoshi, which was a blue one.

"That…was scary." The blue Yoshi stuttered. Once the Luigis told him about the situation at the chamber, the blue Yoshi went out to help with the pushing as well.

* * *

 _ **At the north side of Yoob's Belly…**_

Veronica and Baby Yoshi emerged out from the room's entrance, only to find themselves in an empty room.

"Oh, just an empty room…" Veronica pondered with her eyebrow raised.

"Yoshi! Yo yo Yoshi!" Baby Yoshi called her attention by pointing to somewhere.

"Huh? Do you see someone, Baby Yoshi?" Veronica asked. Baby Yoshi nodded and led her to the room's corner.

There, they found a collapsed yellow Yoshi, with his tongue sticking out.

"So hungry… Need fruit…" the yellow Yoshi said, starving.

"Oh, poor thing…" Veronica felt bad for him. "Is there any kind of fruit we can find here?"

"Yes!" Baby Yoshi nodded and surprisingly enough, he pulled out a shiny, orange-yellowish piece of fruit from his saddle!

"Whoa! Where did you get that?" Veronica was surprised.

"Yoshi! Yoshi! Yo yo Yoshi!" Baby Yoshi explained (in his language, of course).

"Hmm, you found it inside one of those purple log-like holes from the main chamber?" Veronica questioned. "Impressive…"

Baby Yoshi walked towards the starving yellow Yoshi and offered him the piece of fruit.

"Yippee! Fruit!" the yellow Yoshi beamed with happiness as he gobbles down the fruit. "Thank you, Baby Yoshi!"

Veronica told him about the boulder situation at the previous room and asked if he could lend a hand.

"Yes! I'm good to go!" the yellow Yoshi replied and went back to the main chamber to help the other Yoshis by pushing the boulder. Only two more Yoshis remaining!

* * *

 _ **At the northeast side of Yoob's Belly…**_

Tails and his younger self saw a pink Yoshi at the other side of the room where the floor was covered with spikes at his front.

"A little help?" the pink Yoshi asked.

"Well, we could just simply fly all the way over there." Tails said to the young fox.

"You're right. The problem is… I can't fly as much as you do." Young Tails tilted his head at the floor.

"Oh, that's right… I remember that I was not that great at flying with my tails rather than flying on the Tornado." Tails pondered. "Hmm… How about you practice right now?"

"Okay, then."

Young Tails started to propel his tails and his feet were lifted off the floor. He did a good start so far…but then went downhill when he was trying to fly over the spikes until he lost coordination on one of his tails.

"AAAH!" Young Tails screamed as he was falling towards the sea of spikes.

"Look out!" Tails managed to catch his hand just in time before he fell into the spikes. Young Tails looked up to his older self and saw that he was propelling his tails that allowed him to hover in the air.

"I guess it'll take long for me to master it…" Young Tails sighed.

"I know… I did had a hard time learning to fly properly." Tails lamented. He then had an idea: "Say, since I'm holding you like this, how about I just fly you to the other side, then?"

"Sounds good to me!" Young Tails replied with a smile.

With that, Tails held both his younger self's hands in the same way he carries Sonic in the air and flew to the other side of the room, reaching the pink Yoshi.

"We did it!" Young Tails cheered, but then realizes something: "But wait, how are we going to get the Yoshi to the other side?"

"Simple. Plasma Cannon: Block Mode!" Tails shot two blasts from his arm cannon at the front, which created two solid plasma blocks arranged like a bridge. This left Young Tails astonished.

"Yay! I can get out!" the pink Yoshi chirped and ran to the other side to help with the boulder pushing at the main chamber. Just one more Yoshi left!

* * *

 _ **At the east side of Yoob's Belly…**_

Mario and his younger self went inside their picked room, where they climbed on top of the red wall and saw a RC Shroober with two antennas threatening a light-blue Yoshi, who was cowering in fear, with a radio-controlled UFO.

" **%)$"** the RC Shroober sung.

"A Shroob threatening a friendly Yoshi… I CAN'T STAND IT!" Baby Mario shouted.

"Then let's give him a lesson about how not to treat dinosaurs." Mario smirked. However, when they slid down the wall to the floor, Mario realized: "The only problem is that there's no way through this wall."

"Not if I do this!" Baby Mario grinned as he took out his hammer and prepares to throw it.

"Wait, don't tell me you'll-!"

But Baby Mario threw his hammer before Mario could finish his sentence. The hammer flew above the wall and miraculously, its head hit the UFO, causing it to short-circuit and fly to the wall, blowing it up.

"Yeah! Bull's eye!" Baby Mario cheered.

" _Wow… I forgot that I was a very playful child back then._ " Mario thought while smiling in embarrassment. " _But also quite impulsive too…which is odd._ "

That event also surprised the RC Shroober as he looks around to try to find the culprit.

"Now let's take that Shroob down!" Baby Mario demanded as he went to the other side of the blown up wall, with his adult self following suit.

" **# &!" **the RC Shroober's eye twitched as he ran straight for them.

The RC Shroober used his antennas to command a UFO and it was heading straight for Mario to abduct him. Luckily, Baby Mario retrieved his hammer, jumped on Mario's back once he was abducted and hit the UFO just in time, sending it to the RC Shroober.

Both Marios did a stomp on the RC Shroober, who later called out a bomb this time. The Marios were able to avoid it by jumping over it until it blew up. They took this advantage to perform together the hammer attack, defeating the RC Shroober.

Once the RC Shroober was killed, the light-blue Yoshi stood up and thanked both Marios:

"Thanks!"

The Marios told him about the situation at the main chamber, and he agreed to help the other Yoshis too.

* * *

 _ **One regroup later…**_

The gang watched the six Yoshis pushing very hard, and eventually, the boulder slowly started to move.

"It's working!" Young Tails exclaimed.

The Yoshis continued pushing until the boulder fell into the hole, and as it rolled all the way down, the tight passageway became narrower enough for anybody to pass.

"Wahoo!" the Yoshis celebrated. "Let's roll!" as they jumped down the hole.

"Let's follow them!" Tails said.

Everyone nodded and went down the passageway.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **The next chapter will show them confronting Sunnycide! Please review.  
**


	9. Sunnycide Squad

**The next chapter is here!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Sunnycide Squad**

As soon as everyone walked into the next room after venturing in the narrow passage created by the boulder, they heard a scream:

"Whoa! Help!" it was from a Yoshi.

"Eh? Where did that come from?" Mario puzzled as everyone looked around.

"Up there!" Baby Mario pointed upwards.

They looked up and saw a strange blue machine, where a red Yoshi was on the top, in a small bathtub of bubbles.

"Bleahhhhh… This is gross." The red Yoshi cringed, until he was sucked inside the machine's interior. "Ouch! Dark, too."

He came out trapped inside a magenta egg with green spots. It followed the trail of the conveyor belt, showing more of those eggs on, leading them to somewhere.

"THE HECK?!" Luigi shouted in shock.

"OH NO! It's Dinosaur Land all over again!" Mario panicked, remembering back when he and Luigi had to rescue trapped Yoshis during the events of _Super Mario World_.

"Well, I am stupemortified! There's an EGG factory in this beast's torsal cavity…" Stuffwell said.

" _Thanks to the Author for putting caps on to not confuse with Eggman's lair._ " Sonic thought thankfully.

"This is vile Shroob work. We must do whatever it takes to free the captive Yoshis!" Stuffwell continued. "Not only that, we need to find Bowser and his precious belly. BACK TO ADVENTURE!" he jumped back into Mario's pocket.

"Well, we need to free the Yoshis. I can't stand to see any of them hurt." Veronica said. Everyone nodded and moved on.

* * *

On the next room, they saw the same green, yellow, red and light-blue Yoshis trying to push another boulder, which was blocking the exit.

"Another one?! Seriously?" Young Sonic complained.

"Push! PUSH!" the green Yoshi demanded as he and the other Yoshis struggled to move the boulder.

"Something's missing here… Where are the blue and pink Yoshis?" Young Tails asked.

"Maybe they're trapped inside those eggs over there?" Tails pointed to two eggs inside two transparent blocks next to the entrance.

"Possibly. I'll get them." Veronica said as she flew towards the blocks and picked up the eggs. She flew back to them and placed the eggs on the floor. "Now how do we break them?"

"Leave it to us!" Baby Mario said as he and Baby Luigi pulled out their hammers and smashed both eggs with them, freeing the blue and pink Yoshis.

"Whoa… Tight fit…" the blue Yoshi remarked.

"Ewwwwww… That was gnarly." The pink Yoshi cringed.

"Hey, look! There they are!" the blue Yoshi pointed to the Yoshis pushing the boulder.

"We gotta roll ANOTHER?!" the pink Yoshi questioned in shock as he and the blue Yoshi went to the others.

"No matter! Let's do it!" the blue Yoshi exclaimed as he and the pink Yoshi worked together to push the boulder.

Eventually, the boulder rolled out of the way, unblocking the exit.

"All right!" the Yoshis cheered. "Now we can move on!" they walked through the exit, with Mario and Co. following suit.

* * *

Soon after dealing with some Dry Bones and RC Shroobers, the heroes heard a familiar female voice coming from the next room:

"Hold on! I'll bust you out of there!"

"Wait… I know that voice!" Sonic's eyes widened.

"Me too!" Tails added.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry!"

To their surprise, they saw none other than Amy Rose standing next to a bunch of eggs! Once the heroes went in, she turned around and looked at them with her eyes widened.

" _Uh oh, here it comes…_ " Sonic thought with a nervous look, getting ready for Amy to tackle-hug him like she always does. Strangely enough, she didn't do it; instead, she only just stood there with a confused look on her face.

"Hey, hang on! Who are you guys?" Amy asked.

Sonic's eyes widened in surprise once she said that; she doesn't remember them at all? That really wasn't a good thing…

"Amy? What are you talking about? We're your friends! Don't you remember?" Tails asked.

"What? 'Amy'? My name's Amy?" Amy questioned. Hearing that made the youngsters astonished since they're seeing the future version of Amy.

"Yeah! Amy Rose! And…" Tails began blabbing on.

"A 'hedgehog' from 'Mobius'? 'Princess Peach'? 'Time'… 'machine'?" Amy questioned on the topics Tails was telling her. But she became stressed out and held her head while shaking it. "Ow…" she winced. "I… The past is a total blank! It makes my mind hurt… No matter how hard I try, I can't remember a thing…"

" _Oh no… Is she suffering from amnesia?_ " Sonic thought with a saddened look.

But soon, something came in Amy's mind: "Wait, no, pretend that I just lied. There is one thing…" she walks closer to the heroes. "Every once in a while, a dim memory surfaces… I just drew this picture of the image…"

She hands them a drawing of some kind. It showed a pair of two female hands holding up the complete Cobalt Star against Princess Shroob. They didn't notice, but the drawing had dirt patches on it, covering most of it, making it unclear to whom those hands belonged to. The heroes guessed that they could belong to Princess Peach.

"I honestly don't have a clue what that is." Amy said. "What I do know is that it scares me. I think that's the reason my memory is blank. I can't bear to remember!"

"Easy, Amy. You'll get your memory back soon enough." Sonic smiled.

"Thank you, S…uh…" Amy couldn't remember Sonic's name.

"Sonic. My name is Sonic."

"Okay then, Sonic." Amy smiled back. "At least I'll never forget who you are. You can take the drawing with you, if you want."

"We'll do!" Tails replied as he picks up the drawing. "We can later show it to the professor once we get back to our time."

"But, what just happened to you, Amy? How did you end up getting here? Do you remember?" Sonic asked.

"Yes." Amy nodded. "I just woke up in the Yoshis' village… Then that huge lizard ate some Yoshis and me all down."

"Just a quick question: what are these eggs?" Baby Mario asked.

"My friends, the Yoshis, are trapped inside them." Amy explained. "And the Yoshis that were in eggs are probably going to be reborn as monsters…"

"Monsters?!" Luigi's eyes widened in shock.

"Yeah… That's why I have to hurry and get them out of there, but…" she paused for a moment. "There's this huge, nasty THING in the back who's guarding the exit."

"If you say so, then we'll take that thing out!" Mario said with determination.

"Are you out of your mind? It's big and scary! And it smells…really weird." Amy protested.

"Guess we'll have to explain that to her once again in our way…" Mario sweatdropped as he turned to Luigi and the babies. The trio approached Mario as he begins: "No job's too big or threatening…"

"…when we are around!" Baby Mario finished.

"You don't have to despair!" Luigi continued.

"Cause we are…" Baby Luigi added.

"…THE MARIO BROTHERS!" the four finished, shoving their fists into the air.

"Wow… Just who ARE you guys?" Amy was astonished.

"Let's go, everyone!" Mario exclaimed.

"Yeah!" the rest of the heroes nodded as they walked into the room, leaving Amy alone.

* * *

As soon as they got in the room, they saw a monstrous egg-shaped monster surrounded by many of those eggs while blocking the only exit.

"Okaaaaay… ***gulp*** that thing is scary." Luigi gulped.

" **%$ &*#(*%*#!" **the monster roared loudly.

"OH GOD!" Luigi jumped in fright and tries to leave, only to get sent back by Amy, who just came into the room. She was holding her Piko Piko Hammer with her, and she had no idea how she summoned it, but she didn't care and glared at the monster:

"Don't you harm those eggs! Just let them go!"

"…Amy?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Oh! Sorry to interrupt, I just had to see if I could help out…"

" **%$ &*#(*%*#!" **the monster roared again.

"Uhhh… I gotta go now…" Luigi shuddered as he slowly walks away, until Baby Yoshi wrapped his tongue around him and pulled him back.

"Oh, come on…" Luigi muttered.

"By the way, I came up with a name for this monster. I called him Sunnycide." Amy said. "Get it?"

"Let me guess: you're referencing the term 'sunny-side up', a way to fry eggs, and the suffix '-cide' of 'suicide', right?" Young Sonic guessed with his eyebrow raised.

"Damn your fourth wall breaking…" Sonic sweatdropped.

The monster, dubbed Sunnycide, threw one of his eggs at Amy. Since she didn't know how to use her hammer, the egg eventually hit her.

"OUCH!" she winced as she fell on the floor, unconscious.

"Apparently, that bad guy doesn't like puns." Sonic sassed.

"Grrrrr!" just then, a familiar voice came from the thrown egg.

"What the… BOWSER?!" Baby Mario flinched.

The egg cracks open, revealing Baby Bowser.

"Hey! You all there! Don't just stand there! Get me outta here!" Baby Bowser yelled.

"He has a point." Mario said.

Sunnycide threw two eggs, which were called Yoob Eggs, in an attempt to hit Mario and Luigi. Luckily, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi jumped in front of their adult selves and hit the Yoob Eggs with their hammers right back at Sunnycide.

"Boom! Right back at ya!" Baby Mario exclaimed.

Then, the two Yoob Eggs that were sent back cracked open, and a green Yoshi and a black Yoshi came out and rushed to the upper part of the room to push a large boulder.

"That's it! We could break these eggs and free the Yoshis to make them help us in battle!" Tails stated.

"Let me and my adult self handle the eggs." Young Sonic said. "You guys take care of…Sunnycide."

"All right! After all, you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs!" Sonic joked.

"Heh, good one!"

With that, the rest of the group focused on Sunnycide while both Sonics freed the Yoshis trapped in the Yoob Eggs. Mario did a stomp on Sunnycide while Baby Mario hit him with his hammer, followed up by Baby Yoshi wrapping his tongue on one of the Yoob Eggs and throwing it at Sunnycide.

Sunnycide then tried his other move: he looked at Luigi and used suction to try to regain health.

"GAAAH!" Luigi screamed as he was being sucked.

"Oh no, you don't!" Veronica hissed and used a different type of power: she first stopped Sunnycide in place, and then she created a glowing light-blue clock hologram in front of her and moved her hand counterclockwise, causing Sunnycide to blow out air instead since it was playing in reverse.

"Hurry! Shoot him in the mouth!" Tails warned his younger self. He nodded and both fired a shot from their arm cannons into Sunnycide's mouth, and he roared in pain. At the same time, Veronica ends her magic.

"That was close! Thanks, Veronica!" Luigi thanked.

"No problem." Veronica replied.

"WATCH OUT!" Baby Luigi suddenly dragged Luigi just in time as a hole showed up where he used to be. What really happened was that Sunnycide had pulled down a chain to create a hole in the ground.

" _Did my younger self just save me?!_ " Luigi thought while surprised.

"You were just about to fall into that hole! Good thing I've saved you in time!" Baby Luigi smiled at the last sentence.

" _I guess Luigi was much smarter when he was young… Things sure do change._ " Veronica thought.

Soon, the two Sonics had freed enough Yoshis from the Yoob Eggs and were now standing next to them up above.

"Hey, eggface! Taste the roll of the Yoshis!" Young Sonic taunted.

" _Wow! Sounds like the way I joke at Eggman!_ " Sonic thought while grinning.

With that, the Yoshis pushed the boulder and it fell down towards Sunnycide, hitting him in the head. He was now lying on the ground, exposing his large bump partially covered with a bandage.

"I knew it! That was his weak spot!" Tails exclaimed.

"How'd you know?" Sonic asked once he came down.

"When I and younger me shot him into the mouth, he cried out in pain."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"You know, since we're talking about eggs a lot, how about the Mario Bros finish him with our own type of egg?" Veronica smirked as she used her magic again. "Use this, guys!" she summons a white egg with golden stars pattern.

"All right! The Smash Egg!" Mario grinned.

Veronica throws the Smash Egg to Mario, who did a bicycle kick at it, sending it at Sunnycide's weak spot. The Smash Egg went towards Luigi now and he also does a bicycle kick at it to send it at the weak spot. The brothers continued this 'egg bicycle kick play' until the Smash Egg cracked.

But it didn't take long enough for Sunnycide to face defeat in front of our heroes.

"Looks like Sunnycide got EGGsecuted!" Sonic joked, making the group laugh.

"Hahahahaha! That was a good one!" Young Sonic laughed.

"You and your egg jokes…" Mario snickered.

Sunnycide then exploded, and eventually, the whole place shook as the exit opened up in the ground. The heroes watched the Yoob Eggs that remained fall down into the hole…and Baby Bowser.

"Ohhh, YES! I bet if we go into this hole, we'll be free!" Amy exclaimed once she woke up.

"The exit!" a Yoshi's voice came in.

A row of Yoshis came into the room and they all jumped into the hole.

"Shall we go?" Young Tails invited.

"Ugh, why do I get the feeling that this is going to be disturbing?" Sonic cringed a bit.

"Ohh… I get it now…" Young Sonic cringed too.

"I know it's going to be disgusting, but we have to get out." Mario told them.

"Well then, let's go."

Everyone took a deep breath and hopped into the hole.

* * *

Outside, at the Yoshi Mountain, we can see the heroes coming out of Yoob's…butthole (sorry about that…) and falling down.

"WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAA!" they screamed as they were falling.

Thankfully, they landed safely on the ground, until all of the Yoob Eggs fell…on Luigi's head.

"Ughhhh! What is this, Land on Luigi day?" Luigi muttered in anger.

Soon, Amy also landed on him.

"Yep... I called it…" he groaned while raising his arm up.

"Oh, oops! Sorry about that!" Amy apologized and got off of Luigi.

"Well, we were able to perform a dashing escape, weren't we?" Stuffwell said.

" _Oh, come on! Stealing my words AGAIN?!_ " Sonic thought while gritting his teeth.

"An adventure-filled escape from a massive, pink horror…"

Then, everyone looked up and saw that Yoob's eyes closed and became motionless.

"It looks like Yoob isn't moving anymore…" Veronica pointed out.

"I would surmise that the eggs supplied that big hungrinator with its energy. Yes, indeed." Stuffwell concluded.

"We better hurry and get these eggs back to the village where they belong!" Amy stated. "Seems like they somehow know they've all made it home! Come on, everyone!" she guided the eggs back to the village.

"No idea how she does that…" Young Sonic said astonished.

"I suggest a return to the village to see what's happening." Stuffwell suggested and jumps back in Mario's pocket.

* * *

 _ **Back at the village…**_

"Bwah ha ha!" Baby Bowser laughed evilly.

He was enjoying a buffet of Yoshi Cookies while the Yoshis surrounding him watched.

"Listen up, lizards! I'm the one who saved you. Me!" Baby Bowser said. "So make with the gratitude…and the goodies, too!"

"Thanks a bunch, pal!" a red Yoshi thanked.

"Thank you!" a blue Yoshi and a yellow Yoshi thanked.

"Hey…" the Yoshis heard a little voice from behind. They turned around and saw the group of heroes coming to them. By the way, the one who just spoke was Baby Mario. "He's lying. He didn't save you, we did." He corrected.

"Grrrrr! This is NOT happening again!" Baby Bowser yelled. "Lemme just guess… You're here for the cookies? Hmph!" he scoffs and resumes eating. "I'll scarf 'em all before I let you touch a single crumb!"

"Umm… You do know you still have the Cobalt Shards in your belly, right? They're occupying a lot of space in it." Veronica warned. "If you fill your tummy too much, you'll end up choking, and that's dangerous for babies."

"Oh, shut up! You're not even my mom!" Baby Bowser scolded, not listening to Veronica and ate ALL of the cookies. But then, he started to cough and choke:

"HORK! PLABTH!"

"Told you." Veronica crossed her arms.

"Urrrrgh! BLAAAAAAARF!" Baby Bowser barfed out the two Cobalt Shards he had eaten.

"The Cobalt Shards!" Tails exclaimed.

"Look! Magic!" the blue Yoshi chirped.

"He's amazing!" the red Yoshi clapped.

"Oops! Whoa, no wonder! I forgot I'd eaten those!" Baby Bowser replied in a silly tone. The Cobalt Shards moved on by themselves. "Wait, wha—What's going on?!" to everyone's surprise, the shards dashed at full speed towards Baby Bowser and pushed him hard enough to send him flying. "YEEOW!"

"Whoa… I was NOT expecting that!" Sonic was shocked.

"Wow! Awesome! Our hero can fly!" the yellow Yoshi squealed.

"You're the best!" the red Yoshi appraised.

Baby Mario and Baby Luigi walked over to the shards and took them.

"For the love of LUGGAGE! Those Cobalt Shards hold a pugilistical power!" Stuffwell remarked, surprised about the event that just happened. "There's no record of this in my data banks. I believe we've made an important discovery! BACK TO ADVENTURE!" he jumps back in.

" _Okay, this Stuffwell guy is starting to annoy me…_ " Sonic thought while sweatdropping.

"Listen up, Yoshis!" Amy came in. Everyone turned to her as she directed to the nine heroes. "These guys here saved you, not that little piggie. He was in an egg the whole time!"

"Yoshi! Yoshi!" Baby Yoshi spoke.

"Seriously?" the green Yoshi questioned. "Is it true, Baby Yoshi?" he asked the Baby Yoshi.

"Yes!" Baby Yoshi nodded.

"Whoa! You can speak a few words now?!"

"Yaaaaaaay!" Baby Yoshi cheered.

"Oh, wow." The pink Yoshi was astonished.

Amy turned to the heroes and thanked them: "Thanks, you guys. Seriously."

"You're welcome!" Mario replied with a smile.

"Yay!" all of the Yoshis, including Baby Yoshi, jumped in joy.

"Well, we have to go now." Veronica told the heroes.

They nodded and gathered around her. However, Sonic was surprised that Amy didn't want to tag along.

"Are you sure you don't want to come back, Amy?" he asked.

"No." she shook her head. "I'll stay here for a while, so that my memory comes back over time. After all, this whole village needs a repair."

"Alright, then…" Sonic replied. " _Gee, she acts VERY different when she's with amnesia... Why am I feeling bad for her?_ " he thought.

"Goodbye, our true heroes!" the adult Yoshis waved.

"Bye!" Baby Mario waved back. He then looked at Baby Yoshi. "Oh! Goodbye to you too, Yoshi! I and my bro will make sure we live in big adventures together in the future!"

"Yoshi!" Baby Yoshi chirped with a big smile while waving.

Mario and Luigi couldn't help but smile at Baby Mario's words about Yoshi in the future. After the goodbyes, Veronica used her time-traveling magic and the heroes disappeared from sight in a bright light.

* * *

After travelling through the time portal, they reappeared at Peach's Castle Garden in the present day. There, they wasted no time in heading back to Professor E. Gadd at the throne room.

"Welcome back again, fellers!" E. Gadd greeted them. "So you've got your hands on some of the Cobalt Shards, hm? 2 of 'em?"

"We have also found Amy Rose in Yoshi's Island of the past." Sonic told him.

"Oho! You've found miss Rose? Then why isn't she with you?" E. Gadd asked.

"Well… She's suffering from amnesia, I'm afraid. She decided to stay there so that her memory would return." Sonic said. "And we also have a picture that she drew prior to her memory being erased." He hands E. Gadd the drawing.

"Hm… Ah…" E. Gadd looks at the drawing. "It looks to be a sketch of the Shroob princess attacking someone else…"

"Yes, we believe that person is Princess Peach." Stuffwell informed. "Seems that she's holding off the alien scourge with the Cobalt Star, but…"

"As we know, Princess Peach lost this battle, and the star shattered into fragments. How did this all happen? Was the Cobalt Star alone not enough to win the day? Or did something unexpected and just plain awful happen? Veronica, you have any clues?"

"Umm… Well…" Veronica looked quite nervous for some reason.

"What's the matter with you? You're able to see visions of the past, present and future, don't you?" E. Gadd questioned. "That's what you told me. You sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Veronica replied. "I'm sorry, professor. I don't have any clues at this moment." She said. But in truth, she's actually lying. What could she be hiding from our heroes?

"Hmm, you're still acting veeeeery weird for me." E. Gadd suspected. "Anyhoo, it hardly matters. You just find those time holes and collect Cobalt Shards."

"Leave it to us!" Tails exclaimed.

"Oh, and that reminds me, a new time hole has appeared on the third floor of the castle. My readings indicate that this particular time hole is a direct link to Peach's Castle of old."

"Really?!" Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails said in surprise.

"Unfortunately, my visions show that the Castle is under guard by the Shroobs. We can't go there yet." Veronica warned.

"So it looks like we'll have to just focus on gathering more Cobalt Shards for now." Mario stated.

"You're right, Bro." Luigi nodded. He turned to Veronica and asked: "Veronica, are you getting another sense of time energy?"

"Yes, I am getting another one." Veronica answered. "This way."

She led the heroes out of the throne room. Not too long, they once again encountered both Toadsworths entertaining Baby Peach again. They teach the adult Mario Bros the Bros Ball, where they turn into a rolling ball and not only it allows them to move faster, but also allows them to go under walls and tight spaces.

Once the learning was done, Veronica led the group back to the second floor. This time, the other time hole was at the top. They jumped inside, wondering what their new destination will be.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Remember back at chapter 5 where I mentioned that Toadiko and Toadbert wouldn't show up in my story? Because of that, I decided to use Amy to replace Toadbert's role.  
**

 **I think I did a really good job with the humor in this chapter, adding a lot of egg jokes during the fight with Sunnycide! XD Even I am proud of myself! ;D**

 **Where could the next destination be? Will our heroes find Princess Peach? And is she really the person using the Cobalt Star in the drawing? Find out in the next chapter! Please review.**


	10. Gritzy Desert and the Koopaseum

**Next chapter done!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Gritzy Desert and the Koopaseum**

The heroes arrived back in the Mushroom Kingdom's past at Gritzy Desert: a large, barren desert in the northeastern-most part of the Mushroom Kingdom. There was a large colosseum at the heart of the desert and dark caves located under it. Cactus and buried tracks fill this hot landscape.

"Geez…it's piping hot out here!" Sonic wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"It's not that bad, actually… It sorta feels like Dusty Desert." Tails stated.

"I don't care…it's still hot as hell…"

"You know, Sonic does have a point…" Mario said.

"Maybe we should go in there to cool off." Luigi pointed to the colosseum.

"Alright, let's go in…because I'm DYING out here!" Young Sonic shouted as they went inside.

"Umm… I wouldn't go in there if I were you…" Veronica protested and stayed outside instead.

Then…

"WAH!"

"MAMA MIA!"

"OH. MY. GOODNESS."

"…Oh…hello…"

Veronica heard the boys' voices from the inside. They probably saw something not good…

" **%$#*$( &!" **suddenly, Veronica heard a Shroob noise next.

"RUUUUUUUUUUN!" she heard Luigi's voice.

Veronica watched the boys running out of the colosseum in panic before noticing a Shroob at the entrance.

"Uh oh!" she quickly flees.

The Shroob ordered many Shroobs that were inside the colosseum to go after the heroes.

Back with the boys, they decided to hide behind one of the pillars, followed up by Veronica joining them. They peeked out to see the Shroob leader looking around before commanding his troops to head to the left.

"I think they're gone…" Baby Luigi guessed as he and his brother walked out of their hiding spot, thinking they're safe.

"NO! WAIT!" Luigi panicked and got in front of the babies. "What if they come back?" he warned them…only for the Shroob leader to come back. "Oh, crud…"

Luigi and the babies immediately ran as the Shroob started to chase after them.

"Oh, brother…" Mario sweatdropped.

"How come he gets to have all the fun?" Young Tails questioned.

"Well, not on our watch!" Young Sonic grinned. "Come on, Tails!"

With that, the two young animals went off, chasing after the Shroob.

"Ha! You saps are all wet!" a voice came.

Mario, Sonic, Tails and Veronica looked up and saw a spinning pink shell that went down and Kylie Koopa came out from it.

"Oh, hello Kylie." Veronica greeted politely.

"Waltz into the dome's front door and you're sure to get spotted and carted away lickety-split!" Kylie warned.

"That's what I was trying to warn you guys, actually." Veronica eyed at Mario, Sonic and Tails.

"WAAAAAH! GET AWAY!" Luigi screamed at the background during the chase.

"Keep him distracted, Luigi! We got your back!" Young Tails called out, firing a blast from his arm cannon at the Shroob.

"So what are you doing here, exactly?" Tails asked.

"Well, here's the scoop: Princess Shroob's gonna be arriving here any minute now!" Kylie said as she took a snap with her camera.

"Wait, really?!"

"Yeah, there's gonna be a big to-do celebrating the conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"GOTCHA!" Young Sonic managed to tackle someone down. However, he actually tackled Luigi.

"THAT'S ME YOU'RE HOLDING DOWN!" Luigi yelled.

"Oh…" Young Sonic replied nervously as he let go of Luigi, who ran off as the Shroob ran past the young hedgehog. "HEY! GET BACK HERE!" he shouted angrily as he chases after the Shroob.

"And that's just the fries, guys: here's the burger! Some other princess-type's coming too!" Kylie continued.

"What?! No way! Could that be Peach?" Mario was shocked.

"Well that depends: how is she like, Kylie?" Sonic asked.

"My sources indicate this other damsel likes pink, and she MAY be royalty of some sort." Kylie answered.

"Yep. That's definitely Princess Peach." Sonic concluded.

"WHAT? Princess Peach? The doll they're bringing here is Princess Peach?" Kylie questioned.

"TAKE THIS, YOU UGLY PURPLE THING!" Baby Luigi yelled and swung his hammer at the Shroob, causing him to spin around but accidentally knocked down Luigi. "Whoops! My bad..."

"WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU GUYS ON?!" Luigi yelled in annoyance as he gets up and runs off from the Shroob again.

"Princess Peach came here in a time doohickey and got pinched by Princess Shroob?!" Kylie said in shock.

"Yup. That basically sums up everything." Sonic said.

"I gotta get this straight… You're snooping about trying to rescue the adult Princess Peach? Sounds like balloon juice to me, fellas…but what a scoop it'd be if you're on the level!"

"TAKE THAT!" Baby Mario threw his hammer at the Shroob, but he sidestepped out of the way…and the hammer's head hit Luigi instead.

"OWWWWW!" Luigi winced in pain.

"Oops…" Baby Mario flinched.

"OH, COME ON!"

"Alrighty then! You need to get into the dome so you can nab that princess, right?" Kylie guessed as she strikes her pose.

"That's right." Mario nodded.

"Well, word on the street is there's supposed to be a secret entrance around here… Word on the street ain't so specific, though, so I dunno about its whereabouts…"

The Shroob went back, looking for Luigi, until the babies appeared from behind him, with Baby Luigi on top of Baby Mario, and they spun their hammers together, sending the Shroob flying. However, Luigi was backing off directly to the babies, and because he didn't see where he was going, he was caught into the mini-tornado as well.

"WOOOOOAAAAH!" he screamed as he flew off.

"There he goes…" Young Tails watched Luigi flying into the air once he and Young Sonic came back.

"What a crazy chase this was…" Young Sonic remarked.

"You're not getting in through here, regardless, so you gotta find that secret entrance!" Kylie said. "Here's the only dirt I got: the entrance is connected somehow to four desert statues. Now knuckle down and find that entrance, ya big lugs! I've got some sleuthing of my own to take care of. Good luck!" she then left.

"Hey, where's Luigi?" Mario asked as he looked around.

"Uh, Mario…" Tails pointed upwards.

Eventually, Luigi came crashing down faceplanted into the sand right in front of Mario.

"Are you okay, Luigi?" Veronica asked.

"Where have you been?" Mario questioned.

"Flying…" Luigi muttered in the sand while the kids regrouped with the adults. "Kids are a pain…"

"Well, what are we going to do now? We can't go through the front door again." Young Sonic said.

"For my sake…we shouldn't…" Luigi sighed as he got up.

"I can see a couple of switches in this place as well as four Dry Bones statues. I assume those are the statues that Kylie mentioned." Veronica explained. "We should head to each statue and activate them. There's one at the northwest, one at the west, one at the east and one at the southeast. You guys head to each of them while I watch from above."

With that, the adults with their younger selves split up to each of the statues while Veronica flew into the air to take a nice view of the four statues. She then saw Sonic and his younger self, who were both at the eastern statue, hitting two blocks and a blue star thing flew towards the western statue.

"Mario! Baby Mario! Hit the blocks, now!" Veronica called out as she flew to the western statue, where Mario and Baby Mario were.

"Okay!" both Marios nodded before hitting their blocks, and another blue star flew back to the eastern statue.

Eventually, both statues' mouths opened and fired a laser.

"Looks like part of it is done. Now I'll do the same with the others." Veronica said and flew off.

After doing the same instructions with both Tailses and Luigis, the lasers finally collided with each other into one pillar, and it opened the secret passage to the colosseum, which was located right above the front door.

After regrouping, the heroes went above the colosseum and walked into the entrance.

* * *

This colosseum was called the Koopaseum: a large structure with golden walls and pillars with a green floor. The dome's exterior had a circular red carpet. The heroes reached the dome's exterior, where they met up with Kylie.

"Gee whiz! You guys found the secret entrance after all! Color me bamboozled!" she exclaimed. "Now listen, and listen good! Princess Shroob should be arriving any minute now! All the Shroobs are gathered on the other side of this wall. Let's take a look-see through these windows!"

Everyone nodded and walked towards each of the windows and peeked.

They saw a large stadium loaded with Shroobs, making it look like they were in a live-action show.

"Boy! Just look at 'em, fellas! Look at all them Shroobs!" Kylie exclaimed.

"Golly…" Luigi's eyes widened.

Soon, two Shroobs walked at the front of the main stage and announced in their language:

" **#(%!"**

The Shroobs at the audience cheered. Then, the lights went off; only laser lights were illuminating the stadium. Just then, a large Saucer arrived in and the Shroobs cheered again as they saw Princess Shroob coming down from it and landing on the stage. She walked towards the main laser light illuminating the stage as the Saucer left.

" **& $!" **Princess Shroob exclaimed. **"*%!"** the lights lit up again. **"%()!"** she spoke, and the Shroobs cheered. **"%()!"** she spoke louder, and the Shroobs screamed louder. **"%()!"**

A Shroob brought her a drink via tray. After Princess Shroob finished her drink, she resumed speaking through her microphone: **"*%!"**

"EEEEEEEK!" suddenly, Peach let out a shriek as she showed up in, tied by a UFO. "Help me!"

She was dragged at the front of the stage, over a green pipe, where Petey Piranha showed up from below.

" **$%*"** the Shroobs at the audience chanted.

" **$%*!"** Princess Shroob commanded.

The UFO let go of Princess Peach, and Petey Piranha ate her! Having finished his meal, Petey went back into the pipe. Princess Shroob let out a cackle in glory, and all of the Shroobs joined her.

* * *

 _ **Back with the heroes…**_

"OH. DEAR. GOD." Veronica's eyes widened.

"D-Did you SEE that?!" Luigi asked in shock.

"Petey Piranha just ATE Peach!" Mario exclaimed in complete shock.

"YOIKS!" suddenly, they heard Kylie screaming.

"Hold on, was that Kylie?!" Tails questioned in surprise.

"What just hap- ***loud gasp*** NO WAY!" Sonic shouted in horror as he and the others looked to the left.

They just saw Kylie being carried away by two Shroobs while tied in ropes!

"Oh NO! Kylie!" Young Tails cried out.

"After them!" Young Sonic demanded as everyone ran after the Shroobs.

* * *

After going through multiple obstacles in the Koopaseum, they eventually reached a strange blue platform on the ground. They decided to hop on it. That's where they realized that this platform is actually an elevator, taking them upwards…on the stage.

"Uh oh…" Sonic gulped as the Shroobs stared at them.

"Lookie! We're on the stage!" Baby Luigi exclaimed as he and Baby Mario went to the middle of the stage and giggled happily while waving to the crowd, even if it was loaded with their enemies.

"God help us…" Luigi sweatdropped.

" **& %!" **Princess Shroob commanded the Shroobs on the stage to ready their laser guns and point at the heroes. **"#(!"** she gave the signal.

Four Shroobs at the left shot a laser at both Marios and both Sonics, but they avoided them by leaping high into the air like if they were doing a performance on stage.

"Wahaa!" Mario stomped the upper-left Shroob.

"Woohoo!" Baby Mario stomped the lower-left Shroob.

"All right!" Sonic stomped the far-left Shroob.

"Yes!" Young Sonic Spin Jumped the middle-left Shroob.

" **#(!"** Princess Shroob gave the signal to the Shroobs at the right.

The four Shroobs at the right shot their lasers at both Luigis and both Tailses, but they also leapt into the air.

"Yeah!" Tails stomped the far-right Shroob.

"Yay!" Young Tails Spin Jumped the middle-right Shroob.

"Oh yeah!" Baby Luigi stomped the lower-right Shroob.

"Yahoo!" Luigi…didn't stomp the upper-right Shroob. Instead, he leapt too far away that he went off our point of view.

"Uhh… Where did older me go?" Baby Luigi questioned.

" **& %!" **Princess Shroob called forth somebody.

" ***( &!" **a Shroob's voice was heard from the left.

This Shroob was blue with yellow spots on his cap and was holding a lollipop; he was known as the Shrooboid Brat. He came in while holding on a chain moving to the right.

"Eh? GAH!" we heard Luigi's scream, followed up by an earthquake.

"Ack!" Baby Luigi flinched and ran behind Baby Mario when he saw his older self being dragged back to the stage by the Shrooboid Brat.

"…Luigi?" Mario's eyes widened.

"What the heck is that thing?!" Sonic questioned.

"And why is it holding a lollipop?" Young Sonic added.

" **%)?"** Princess Shroob asked.

"Well…" Luigi said in an awkward tone.

" **#(!"** Princess Shroob yelled.

"What the—AAAAAHHH!" Luigi screamed when the Shrooboid Brat threw him and he crashed on the bottom wall of the audience.

 ***CRASH!***

"Older Luigi!" Baby Mario cried out.

"Uh oh! Let's hurry and help myself!" Baby Luigi said and he and Baby Mario went off the stage to retrieve Luigi, now unconscious.

Upon reaching him, Baby Mario picked him up and carried him on his back.

"Careful… Don't drop me…" Baby Luigi warned as he held his adult self by his back to prevent him from falling off of Baby Mario.

"Look! Baby Mario and Baby Luigi are helping Luigi!" Tails exclaimed.

"Hey! Thanks for doing that, babies!" Mario thanked.

"No problem!" Baby Mario replied as he and Baby Luigi let Luigi get back on his feet.

"Alright, I'm ready now!" Luigi grinned as everyone got in a fighting stance.

" **#(!"** Princess Shroob growled and sent the Shrooboid Brat to attack the heroes.

The Shrooboid Brat let out a roar and threw his lollipop at Mario, but Baby Mario countered it with his hammer. But what surprised the heroes was that the Shrooboid Brat pulled out another lollipop from his mouth.

"Jeez! How can he store lollipops in his mouth?" Young Sonic cringed.

"Who knows? Let's just attack that annoying brat!" Sonic demanded as he Home Attacks the Shrooboid Brat while Young Sonic Spin Jumped.

The Shroobs at the audience threw three Fire Flowers to the Shrooboid Brat. He ate them and spits out fireballs at the heroes. Baby Mario and Baby Luigi blew them out with their hammers while Mario and Luigi took the chance to stomp the Shrooboid Brat.

The Shroobs at the audience then threw two mushrooms to the Shrooboid Brat, and once he ate them, he spat out two Poison Mushrooms, who were heading towards the heroes. Luckily, Veronica stopped them in place and both Tailses knocked them back at the Shrooboid Brat with their tails. The Shrooboid Brat was now suffering with Poison status.

"Hurry! While he's sick, use this, everyone!" Veronica summons an orange trampoline.

"You guys have your own spring? Cool! Let's do this!" Sonic grinned.

The four boys and their younger selves hopped on the Trampoline and were sent high into the air. They then came back down in random orders to stomp the Shrooboid Brat on the head before jumping back on the Trampoline. They continued this cycle until the Shrooboid Brat was finally defeated and exploded.

" **& %!" **Princess Shroob's eye twitched and commanded some Shroobs to surround the heroes, who looked at them confused.

"What are they doing?" Young Sonic whispered in his older self's ear.

"No idea…" Sonic whispered back.

" **& %!" **Princess Shroob demanded, and the Shroobs took out mallets.

"T-That's not good!" Mario flinched.

The Shroobs smashed the ground with their mallets and the floor beneath the heroes cracked.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" they screamed as they fell.

All of the Shroobs, including Princess Shroob, cackled in glory. Princess Shroob then leaves the stage, accompanied by another Shroob.

* * *

What could of have happened to our heroes?

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **I wouldn't love Gritzy Desert's song if it wasn't for its amazing remix in _Super Smash Bros Brawl_! Seriously, I was actually listening to this remix while writing this chapter! It was so good! Today, Gritzy Desert is one of my favorite songs in _Partners in Time_ , but there's another song that totally beats this one. The place holding this other song won't show up until much later on.  
**

 **I had a bit of fun writing some dialogue for when the heroes arrive at the stage. I also loved the part where the babies carried Luigi back to the stage before the fight with the Shrooboid Brat.**

 **The heroes were taken underground! Until the next chapter! Please review.**


	11. The Gritzy Caves

**Next chapter done!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: The Gritzy Caves**

"…AAAAAHHH! OOF!" Mario and Luigi hit the ground hard.

"…AAAAAHHH! ***boing!* *boing!*** " Baby Mario and Baby Luigi bounced off of their adult selves' backs that softened their landings.

"At least our older selves softened our landings…" Baby Luigi remarked. "Wait, our older selves?!"

They turned around and saw them lying unconscious on the ground.

"How come the adults are always the only ones who take forever to wake up?" Baby Mario questioned.

"That's a good question…" Baby Luigi replied.

Baby Mario walked towards Luigi and called out loud:

"HEY! WAKE UP! LUIGI!"

But Luigi wouldn't wake up.

"Hmm… Guess I have no choice." Baby Mario took out his hammer and lifted it up. "Sorry, Luigi…"

"BIG BRO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Baby Luigi panicked.

Baby Mario swung his hammer and hit Luigi on the head:

 ***BANG!***

"OWWWWWWWWCH!" Luigi shouted in pain as he jumped up into the air while holding on to his head.

"Yay! You're awake!" Baby Mario cheered.

"HEY! What's the big idea, little brat?! You didn't hit me in the head once, BUT TWICE?! I'M GETTING SICK OF THIS!" Luigi yelled in anger with steam coming out of his head.

However, Luigi really shouldn't have said those words: they made Baby Mario feel VERY heartbroken as tears appeared in his eyes and he started to cry…alongside Baby Luigi.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Baby Mario and Baby Luigi wailed out loud.

"Huh?! Oh, nonononononono! I didn't mean to say that! I'm sorry!" Luigi quickly realized his mistake and apologizes, but the babies still wouldn't stop crying. Their crying also woke up Mario.

"Hm…? What's with the crying?" Mario groaned, until he eyed at the situation. "HUH?"

"Eh? WAH! M-Mario?!" Luigi flinched when he saw Mario walking towards him with a cold expression.

"Luigi… Did you seriously made them cry?" Mario asked in a sternly tone.

"I… I-I didn't mean it! I swear!" Luigi put his hands up in defense while shaking his head. "I-I just lost my temper! That's it!"

"Well, next time, learn to control it! Especially in front of the babies!" Mario growled.

"I'M SORRY!" Luigi burst into tears and kneels on the ground, crying.

" ***sigh*** oh, brother…" Mario sighed while shaking his head.

"Are the babies crying again?" Veronica came in.

"Oh, there you are, Veronica. And yes…they're crying again, as with Luigi." Mario rolled his eyes at the last sentence.

"Alright, let me help them…" Veronica sighed and flew to the crying trio.

* * *

 _ **A few seconds of calming down later…**_

Once everyone was calm, Veronica placed the babies on Mario and Luigi's backs again and everyone looked around.

"Say, where are we? Is it some sort of an underground cave?" Mario asked, looking around.

"Yes, they are the Gritzy Caves, located under the desert." Veronica answered.

The Gritzy Caves is a series of caverns directly beneath the whole desert, with bluish walls made of stone and a sandy floor. Vines and rock formations of Piranha Plants cover the walls of this dark and dim place, but there are also many openings in the ceiling, allowing light in.

"Wait…I just realized: where are Sonic, Tails and their younger selves?!" Luigi's eyes widened.

"What?! Oh, great… We're in the same situation that happened back at Baby Bowser's Castle." Mario facepalmed. "We have to find our way out and also find our friends…"

"The only difference is that Veronica is with us." Baby Mario pointed out.

"But remember that Princess Peach got eaten by Petey Piranha, right? If this place is where he lives, then maybe we could find her here." Veronica said.

"You have a point. Let's find everyone." Mario told them.

There was a part where the adult brothers used their Bros Ball ability to reach a room where they heard a scream:

"YOIKS!"

"That scream-!" Mario's eyes widened. "…was it from Kylie?!"

"Uh, Mario… What's coming out of the ground?!" Luigi noticed something emerging from the ground.

None other than Petey Piranha emerged out, startling the Mario Bros!

"MAMA MIA!" Mario and Luigi flinched.

"Hey! What's the big idea?! Unhand me, you clods!" Kylie shouted in anger.

The brothers looked up and saw Kylie tied up in a rope, with two Shroobs next to her; one of them was holding an axe.

"Ace timing, fellas! Boogie up here and cut me loose, will ya?!" Kylie demanded.

"How are we going to do that?!" Mario questioned.

"I got nothing! Just bust me out or I'm a snack, for sure!"

"But we got nothing too!"

"C'mon! We're pals, ain't we? I gave you the dirt on the secret entrance, didn't I? Now it's your turn to be good eggs, or it's curtains for me! C'mon! Hurry up and think of something!"

But too late; the Shroob holding the axe swung it at the rope, cutting it and letting Kylie fall.

"YOOOOIKS!" Kylie screamed.

Petey opened his mouth and swallowed Kylie whole in front of Mario and Luigi's eyes.

"KYLIE! NO!" Luigi cried out.

Petey dug into the ground once again and the Shroobs left. Mario and Luigi are the only ones standing in this room.

"We better head back and tell everyone!" Mario said.

"Yeah, we should!" Luigi nodded and the brothers left the room.

* * *

After lots of walking, solving puzzles and dealing with Dark Boos, the Mario Bros and Veronica reached the deepest part of the caves, where they opened a large door, emerging in a wide room surrounded by pillars on the walls and stalagmites on the floor. At the middle of the room, there were Sonic, Tails and their younger selves!

"Look! There they are!" Mario exclaimed.

"Shhh!" Young Tails shushed. "Petey Piranha might hear us!"

"Petey Piranha is here?" Mario whispered. Young Tails nodded.

" ***sniff*** uh oh… I think this area is excessively dusty! And I'm allergic to dust!" Luigi sniffled, speaking in a quiet voice.

"Luigi, don't do it! Try to hold it!" Sonic demanded quietly.

"I'm trying... A… A… A-A… ACHOOO!" no use; Luigi let out a loud sneeze, and suddenly, the place shook.

Something was coming from the middle of the room in the ground. Once it was fully emerged, it turned out to be…Petey Piranha!

"OH NO!" Young Tails shouted in horror.

Petey roared loudly at the heroes before leaping over them. Luckily, they stepped back so that Petey wouldn't crush them.

"Hurry! Let's hide behind those leaf-shaped spires!" Sonic directed everyone to the two leaf-shaped spires.

Mario, Sonic and Tails ran and hid behind the spire on the right along with their younger selves and Veronica, while Luigi and his younger self hid behind the left spire.

"Luigi! Come over here!" Mario called out.

"Right! I'm coming!" Luigi replied.

He began to sneak past Petey slowly to reach the spire on the right. However, Petey heard the noise of Luigi's footsteps and roared at him.

"CRUD!" Luigi startled and ran back to the left spire.

Petey then walked away from the middle of the room and looked around.

"Now, Luigi! It's your chance to come here!" Tails called.

"Alright!" Luigi replied and this time, he managed to join the others at the right spire. "Yes! I did it!" he exclaimed. But someone was missing, though…

"Umm, Luigi… Where is Baby Luigi?" Veronica asked.

"Eh?" Luigi raised an eyebrow, but not for too long because when he turned back…he saw Baby Luigi left alone at the left spire! "OH NO! How could I have been so careless?!"

"What's even worse than this? THAT!" Sonic shouted while pointing when Petey jumped right in front of Baby Luigi.

"Uh oh…" Baby Luigi gulped.

 ***ROOOOAAAAR!***

"HEEEEEEEELP!" Baby Luigi screamed in panic as he runs away from Petey.

However, Petey leapt in front of Baby Luigi again, blocking his way to prevent him from escaping. Petey started to walk forward slowly, making Baby Luigi cry in fright:

"WAAAAAAAAAAH! I'M SCARED!"

"Uh oh! Hang on!" Luigi quickly rushed to his younger self.

"We'll distract Petey for you, Luigi! Hurry and calm your younger self!" Veronica told him as she and the rest of the heroes rushed to Petey to distract him.

"I'm here, me! Climb up!" Luigi said and Baby Luigi stopped crying and climbed on his back.

"Whew… Thanks." Baby Luigi sighed in relief while thanking.

"Come on, everyone! Now let's take that oversized plant together!" Sonic demanded as the heroes stood in their fighting stances.

Petey did a few stomps and roared before flying into the air and slamming down the ground, creating an earthquake that caused some rocks from the ceiling to fall down at the heroes. Veronica stopped them with her magic and made them play in reverse to send the rocks back at the ceiling, fixing it.

"You know you should never try to damage the ceiling, or you'll also end up killing yourself." Veronica warned.

Petey did another loud roar, only to be attacked by both Sonics' Spin Dashes and both Tailses' arm cannon blasts. The Mario Brothers, on the other hand, used a Fire Flower and shot fireballs at Petey, causing him to lose his body; only his head remained.

"That's it! Petey is vulnerable to fire and ice!" Mario concluded.

"Really? Then we should—WHOA!" Sonic was interrupted when Petey's head buried into the sand and created a sinksand hole to try to suck the heroes in.

"Keep jumping!" Luigi called out.

The heroes did a couple of jumps until Petey's head emerged out of the ground. Petey's head next spat out a Piranha Pest to attack the heroes.

"What the heck is that thing?" Young Sonic questioned.

"It's a Piranha Pest! Don't let its long tongue eat you, or you'll be shrunk by it!" Baby Mario explained. "That's what the Yoshis told me!"

The Piranha Pest stretched its long tongue at the heroes to try and eat them, but Baby Mario and Baby Luigi whacked the tongue with their hammers before stomping on the Piranha Pest to defeat it.

"Now it's time! Burning Spin Dash!" Sonic did his Burning Spin Dash at Petey's head.

"Plasma Cannon: Ice Mode!" Tails fired ice chunks at Petey's head.

"And now… Another item for the Mario Brothers!" Veronica summoned an Ice Flower and tossed it into the air.

The Ice Flower dissolves and its particles fell over Mario, Luigi and their younger selves, changing their clothes to their Ice Flower appearances. The four charged their iceballs and shot them at Petey's head, and it finally exploded. Another Cobalt Shard and a familiar pink shell came out from the explosion as the adult and baby brother's clothes changed back to normal.

"The third Cobalt Shard!" Tails exclaimed as he picks it up.

"Hooray!" the baby brothers cheered.

"Just a few more shards left…" Veronica spoke silently in a somehow distressed tone.

"Is something wrong, Veronica?" Young Tails asked in concern.

"No… It's alright." Veronica replied while smiling forcibly.

"Ow ow OW! I walloped my noggin but good. Hope my camera's not broken!" Kylie said once she got up.

"Kylie! You're okay!" Mario exclaimed.

"Hey! It's my whisker and animal boys! Did you KO that overgrown veggie?! Good deal! When that clown swallowed me down, I thought it was the big sleep, for sure!" Kylie then eyed at the Cobalt Shard. "So give, fellas: did the big lug have that shard? Why, it's the bee's knees! Gaze at those sparkles long enough and you feel… YOIKS!" suddenly, she saw something that was probably frightening into the shard and backed off.

"Huh? What's the matter?" Mario asked.

"In-Inside that crystal… Someone was looking back at me, fellas!" Kylie shuddered.

" _So she saw it… That's not good…_ " Veronica thought.

"…What are you talking about?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

Kylie stood silent for a second before shaking her head and speaking playfully:

"Ha… Aha ha ha ha ha! I must be off my trolley… I need a quick snoozer."

"Okay…then?" Young Sonic shrugged.

"Anyway, what gives, whiskers? What're you gonna do when you get all those baubles together? You're quite the motley crew…but you make for GOLD copy, no doubt about that! Good as you boys are, though, THIS dame's got a lead that'll top anything you've EVER done!"

Kylie then pulls out a large purple key with a Shroob's face on it, leaving everyone in shock.

"Whoa! What is that?!" Luigi asked while shocked. "Did you get it by yourself?"

"That's right! I glommed onto a little Shroob property when the alien boneheads grabbed me! Ain't THAT a thing of beauty? I think it's a key to something inside the Shroob mother ship. Who knows what this beauty can do in the right keyhole? It's a mystery, all right… But you can bet your last mushroom it'll be a scoop to stop the presses, boys!" she then puts the key away.

"Kylie, have you seen Princess Peach? After all, she was also eaten by Petey." Mario asked.

"Hmm, believe it, fellas! Princess Peach was in there!" Kylie answered.

"She was?!" everyone except Kylie were surprised.

"But when I got ate, she got spit out lickety-split!"

"What?! Oh, come on! We lost her AGAIN?!" Sonic complained.

"Yeah, we were so close!" Young Sonic joined in.

"I was all set for an exclusive interview, too! Raspberries!" Kylie exclaimed as she took snaps of her camera at the heroes. "I'm pretty sure she's still locked up in the caves somewhere. I suggest you fellas keep your peepers peeled for her!" she does a spin and strikes her pose. "As for me, I'm gonna try and put that key to use! Which means it's time for me to say so long! Good luck, whiskers! I owe ya one!" she leaves.

"Guys, I think I'm getting the presence of Princess Peach somewhere in the caves." Veronica said. "She should be somewhere at the depths."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Mario exclaimed.

The rest nodded and ventured on.

* * *

They entered a room where there was a closed gate at the end. So the babies had to use Baby Drill to dig under another gate leading to a button. Taking out his hammer, Baby Mario pressed the button, and eventually, the main gate rose up.

"Mario?" suddenly, the babies heard Peach's voice from the other side of the gate. "Could… Could it be? Is that you, Mario?"

"Peach? Peach! Are you there?" Baby Mario called out.

" ***gasp*** Mario! Help! MARIOOO!" Peach cried out. "EEEEEEK!"

Just then, everyone flinched and gasped upon hearing Peach's scream.

"PEACH! OH NO!" Baby Mario shouted in worry.

"HURRY!" Mario shouted and directed everyone into the gate.

On the other side, they saw Princess Peach standing in the middle, facing away from our heroes.

"Princess! We came here to save you!" Mario told her as he and the other adults went to her.

The kids, on the other hand, went in front of Peach and got confused looks on their faces.

"Uh…is that normal?" Young Sonic questioned while tilting his head.

"What do you mean by that?" Sonic asked.

Then, Peach turned around…revealing a HUGE Shroob Mushroom attached to her face!

"OH MY GOD!" everyone except Peach and the kids shouted in shock as Peach collapses on the ground.

"Mama mia…" Luigi fainted.

"Well, then… We should go back to our time now. Could you take us and Princess Peach back, Veronica?" Mario asked.

"Sure." Veronica nods and works on her magic.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Those scenes where Luigi accidentally made the babies cry and leave Baby Luigi alone were one of the most entertaining scenes in this game for sure! Poor Luigi...  
**

 **Uh oh! What just happened to Princess Peach?! Find out in the next chapter! Please review.**


	12. Thwomp Volcano

**Finished the next chapter!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Thwomp Volcano**

After the ride in the time portal, the heroes and Princess Peach were back at the present day in the castle. Soon, Peach was taken into her room with both Toadsworths, Baby Peach and Young Amy. The baby brothers, on the other hand, were having fun hopping on Peach's soft bed while the rest listened to the younger Toadsworth's speech:

"Oh, calamity! How DARE this fungus attach itself to our princess's beautiful face!"

"I daresay I'm rather curious as to how the mushroom has affixed itself as well…" the older Toadsworth replied.

"What a cruel jest this is. I get the chance to meet the adult princess and… CURSES!"

"I guess we'll just have to wait for it to rot and fall off." Young Sonic said. "The 'shroom, I mean, not her face."

"ARE YOU WELL, MY DEAR?" Young Toadsworth asked with worry.

Peach didn't say anything; she only made a small nod. But then, Baby Peach started to cry again.

"Oh, now you've done it, you trumpeting old elephant! The young miss is weeping again…" Toadsworth grumbled as he and his younger self went to Baby Peach.

"A princess here… A princess there… No rest for me, I fear." Young Toadsworth sweatdropped.

They both pushed the pink baby wagon out of the room.

"Hey, the important thing is that the princess is safe." Mario stated.

"Come, older Peach, why don't you lie down for a while?" Young Amy asked after she walked towards Peach and held her hand. Peach made a small nod again.

" _Why am I seeing that this Peach is not Peach in my visions of the future?_ " Veronica thought while placing her finger under her chin. " _Could that Peach really be fake?_ "

The heroes ended up exploring the sewers of the castle, where the kids meet up with an odd, cloaked person who sold badges by trading beans. Strangely enough, that cloaked person looked familiar and spoke in a dialogue that we've already seen before… He also mentioned the fury he had with four individuals in red, green, blue and yellow in the past. And even said that those individuals looked almost like our four kid heroes. Who could that person be…?

* * *

Once the heroes found both Toadsworths entertaining Baby Peach again, they teach the adult brothers two new moves that involves their toddler selves in the middle: the Baby Spin, where Mario and Luigi do their Spin Jump next to the babies, sending them into the air, spinning as they descend, and the Baby Cakes, where Mario and Luigi flatten the babies with the Bros Ball, allowing the disk-shaped toddlers to ride across air currents and fir into very thin passages.

After the learning is over, they made their way to the throne room to meet with E. Gadd as always. However, before they could go there, all of a sudden, earthquakes showed up.

"Eh? What was that?" Mario questioned.

A Toad rushed to where they are and panicked:

"T-TERRIBLE! H-HE'S B-BACK! ROYAL CHAMBERS!"

"Wait, 'he'? ***gasp*** oh no… Don't tell me…" Mario's eyes widened.

Everyone rushed back to Peach's room, and there…was none other than Bowser, who had just defeated Young Amy, now lying unconscious on the floor.

"GWAH HA HA HA!" Bowser laughed evilly. "This time, the princess will be MINE, you fools!"

"BOWSER!" all of the heroes yelled as they walked towards Bowser and glared at him.

"Huh? Mario, Sonic, Tails and that green wimp are here? What are the odds? I'll admit, you've handed me my shell before, but not this time!"

"Didn't you get it already? You always lose, no matter what! How can you be sure that today is your turn to shine?" Sonic asked in a sternly tone.

"Oh yeah! My horoscope said so! Today's the day I win it all!" Bowser smirked. "GWAH HA HA HA! I RULE!"

"Pffft, yeah, right…" Sonic rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, something began to come out of the Shroob Mushroom attached to Peach's face. It was an odd, Shroob Mushroom blob. To everyone's surprise, the blob flew right at Bowser's face! Even blinded by it, Bowser managed to pull off the blob and even ate it.

"Urgh…" Bowser gagged.

"Oh no…" Veronica's eyes widened. "QUICK! EVERYONE OUT!"

She quickly shoved both Sonics, both Tailses, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi out of the room before going along with them.

"Why were they all running for?" Mario raised an eyebrow.

Then…

"YUUUUCK!" Bowser vomited out a purple mist that covered the entire room. Unfortunately, that mist was poisonous, so the brothers immediately started to feel sick and began to cough before collapsing on the ground. "Gotta go!" Bowser shouted as he grabbed Peach and ran off.

The heroes who were outside saw Bowser escaping with Princess Peach, and Sonic shouted to him:

"HALT!"

"Huh? Who goes there?" Bowser turned around, only to see Sonic Spin Dashing towards him.

"Return Princess Peach at once!" Sonic yelled.

However, Bowser jumped over him, avoiding his attack, but that also caused the floor under Bowser to crack, and he fell down along with Peach…into a Time Hole. The group went there and peeked down to where Bowser fell.

"There he goes…" Young Sonic sweatdropped.

"God dang it! We lost Peach again!" Sonic cursed.

"And Bowser has kidnapped her AGAIN…" Tails added.

"Hey, where's adult Mario and adult Luigi?" Young Tails asked.

"Uuuuugh…" they turned around and saw Mario and Luigi moaning in sickness as they came out of the room all woozy.

"Oh my! Are you okay?" Veronica asked in concern.

"Not very good…" Luigi groaned.

"Let me help you guys."

Veronica used her Reversing Time magic to reverse back to how Mario and Luigi's states were before they breathed in the poisonous mist. With that, both adult brothers were cured.

"Thanks, Veronica." Mario thanked.

"No problem. Now let's go after Bowser into that Time Hole."

They all nodded and went to the Time Hole and jumped in.

* * *

After traveling into the time portal, the heroes arrived at Thwomp Volcano; a currently inactive volcano in the northwest corner of the Mushroom Kingdom. There were many Thwomp head stones at the volcano's walls, grassy terrain and dark caves.

Sonic went over to the sign next to the entrance and read: "'Thwomp Volcano Trail. Beware of falling objects!' Is this where we are?"

"Maybe so." Veronica said. "I've heard that a Thwomp couple loves to watch volcano eruptions, and according to my visions, it seems like this volcano, used to be inactive for many years, is finally about to wake up, and this couple are about to gather in front of the volcano."

"Never knew that Thwomps have separated genders…" Mario pondered.

"How should we even know that in the first place, Mario? They all look exactly the same!" Luigi stated.

"Besides from blue and gray Thwomps, I'll have to agree with that."

"How about we just leave the talking for later? We've got a princess to save, you know." Sonic said impatiently, tapping his foot.

"Fine…" Mario and Luigi replied in unison.

They made their way forward, passing by the mountaineer Toads around the landscape, solving more puzzles with the two new abilities and fighting strange box-like enemies called Thwacks. Soon, they reached the very top of the volcano, where the air started to become humid.

"My god…can't it get ANY more humid out here?!" Young Sonic complained.

"Well, duh! We're at the very top of the volcano!" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Wait a minute, what's that over there?" Tails pointed to something shining on the ground.

Curious, Baby Mario walked closer to the shiny object, revealing to be a golden crown. The infant picked the crown and examined it, until a big smile showed up on his face:

"Hey! That's older Peach's crown!"

"That's correct!" Luigi nodded as Baby Mario puts the crown into his pocket.

"Travesty!" Stuffwell exclaimed. "If Princess Peach's crown is here…" he looked at the volcano. "Could it be that she and Bowser tumbled into the volcano?"

"Hm… That could be a possibil- ***BOOM!*** WHOA!"

Before Mario could finish his sentence, all of a sudden, a large magma geyser shot out from the volcano! The heroes flinched as pieces of Thwomp-shaped debris flew into the sky by the eruption.

"T-The volcano has erupted!" Young Tails panicked.

"And at the worst possible time!" Sonic added.

"My powers don't seem to work at this volcano! We have to find a way to stop the eruption!" Veronica warned.

"Then LET'S GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE!" Young Sonic shouted.

"I'll stay here and watch over the mountain!" Veronica called out as the boys ran off.

They ran and ran until they came upon a familiar-looking lab at the Far East side of the summit.

"That lab's shape looks familiar!" Tails pointed out. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yep. Let's hurry and get inside!" Luigi said as they entered the lab.

As soon as they walked in, they saw a younger version of Professor E. Gadd! He was busy doing some notes.

"Hmm… Ahh…" he spoke. "Hmm…"

"It's the professor! I mean, the younger professor!" Tails exclaimed. He then runs to Young E. Gadd and called out: "HEY! PROFESSOR! We've got a volcano in eruption!"

However, Young E. Gadd just walks away, ignoring Tails.

"Hmm… Ahh…" he spoke again, still doing notes.

"E. GADD! PLEASE DO SOMETHING!" Luigi called out louder than Tails, but the professor ignored him as well. Even the kids called out too, but were also ignored.

"Hmm…" Young E. Gadd spoke, doing more notes.

"Jeez! How can this guy be so focused on his notes?" Young Sonic argued.

"You know what? I've had enough!" Baby Mario growled as he jumped in front of Young E. Gadd and pulled out his hammer, which actually caught the professor's attention as he shifted his look to the baby about to hit him and yelled in shock:

"YOWZER!"

"Are you going to listen to us?!"

"Fine! Fine! Just put that hammer down, will ya?"

"Alright." Baby Mario puts away his hammer. Young E. Gadd then calms down and spoke:

"Oh, criminy, I have guests! I was so caught up in my research I didn't notice you."

" _That's some excuse…_ " Young Sonic thought while rolling his eyes.

"The name's Elvin Gadd. I'm studying the Thwomps and history of this here mountain." Young E. Gadd continued. "How'd all these stony fellers get here and why're they so darn angry about everything? That ancient mystery's the only thing that gets my brain all a-percolating…"

" _Wow, who knew that the professor was studying the Thwomps before later on moving to Boo Woods?_ " Luigi thought with a surprised look. " _I probably didn't remember that because I was too young…_ "

"Anyhoo, I'm studying the dirt and rocks and everything else about this fine peak." Young E. Gadd took out his clipboard where his notes were. "I'm a bit slim on snacks and amenities, but feel free to stay as long as you like, OK, boys?"

"THERE IS NO TIME FOR THAT! WE HAVE A SERIOUS TROUBLE OUTSIDE!" Sonic yelled as all of the boys were panicking.

"What's got you fellers so riled? You're shaking the darn floor!" Young E. Gadd asked.

"The volcano is blowing up!" Baby Luigi answered.

"Heh heh heh! Riiiiiiiiight." Young E. Gadd chuckled.

 ***BOOM!***

"YOOOOOWZER!" Young E. Gadd flinched when the volcano let out a second explosion.

"WE TOLD YOU!" Young Sonic yelled.

"And that's the second explosion!" Tails warned.

"What? It just blew its top a few moments ago?" Young E. Gadd questioned. "Why didn't you say so?! What were you waiting for?"

"We tried to warn you from the beginning! But you were way too focused on your researches!" Luigi told him.

Just then, a Thwomp debris fell on top of a bookcase, followed up by another one landing on the table and three more falling on the machine at the back, damaging it, and a code red alarm beeped.

"WE'RE UNDER FIRE, BOYS! All my experiment results are gonna be destroyed!" Young E. Gadd panicked.

Another Thwomp debris fell on a desk and a huge one fell on another type of machine, setting it aflame.

"Oh, criminy! That fiery Thwomp is gonna explode! We gotta put that thing out before my whole place goes up!" Young E. Gadd warned.

Baby Mario then saw some water running down a faucet at the left corner of the room. That gave him an idea and called out Baby Luigi: "Bro! Over here!"

"Where are you taking me?" Baby Luigi asked as he follows Baby Mario.

"See this water? Let's use our pumping technique!"

"Oh yeah, right! Let's do this!"

Baby Mario drinks the water from the faucet, becoming Pump Baby Mario, and walks to the flaming Thwomp debris, with Baby Luigi following behind. Once they were close enough, Baby Luigi smashed Baby Mario with his hammer to make him spit out as many water as possible. Thankfully, there was enough water in Baby Mario to make the fire douse out.

Young E. Gadd, who watched this whole event, walked next to the baby brothers and pondered:

"Wait! Water… Water goes splash… Splashing douses fire… Something… I feel something percolating in my brain!"

Then, the whole scene froze for a second, and back at the present day, the older E. Gadd also felt something in his mind:

"Yowzer! My memories… Why, the memories of my youth have been… They've been rearranged! Wha-What's this, now? Can it be… That's IT!"

Then, the scene shows both E. Gadds' brains: the younger E. Gadd's brain showed the Pump Baby Mario technique in action, and that memory somehow flew into the older E. Gadd's brain. With that, this memory materialized into some sort of gushing machine with a similar appearance to F.L.U.U.D.

* * *

The scene shifts back to the past, where everyone fled the burned down lab.

"Thanks for playing firemen, fellers, but it looks like this lab's done for." Young E. Gadd said. "Don't you sweat it, though. I hear there's an affordable lab at the edge of the Boo Woods. I think I'll relocate there for a time. I have a hankering to do some paranormal research."

"Oh, great… So this is where it began indeed…" Luigi muttered. He then looked at his younger self. "Have fun with that."

"Uh…what?" Baby Luigi tilted his head in confusion.

"You'll see when you get older."

"Now listen, boys, it's dangerous for all of you to stay here." Young E. Gadd told. "I have an inkling I'll be seeing you again soon, though… 'Bye!" he then left.

"Believe us, E. Gadd, you'll see us soon indeed!" Tails smiled.

Then, Stuffwell came out and told everyone:

"Guys! I'm receiving a message from the future Professor E. Gadd!"

Stuffwell opened up by himself and a green screen monitor showed up as with an antenna. E. Gadd's voice came out from the monitor:

" _Can you hear me, fellers? I've just completed the most marvelous invention!"_

"A new invention?" Tails' eyes widened.

" _Yep, this incredible machine will put a stop to any volcanic eruption, no matter how great."_

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" all of the boys shouted in surprise.

"Hold up! Just where did you get the inspiration to do it?" Sonic asked.

" _The inspiration just came out of nowhere, as all great ones do. I call it the Hydrogush 4000! As the name should tell you, it has horsepower to spare. You're dying to see it, huh?"_

"You bet!" the boys exclaimed in unison.

" _OK! I'll send you a little sample flood through the time hole. Hang on, fellers!"_

Back at the present, E. Gadd was loading the Hydrogush 4000 with water. Once he was done, he prepares to activate it by the push of a button.

"If you just tap here…" he spoke to himself as he pushes the button. Then, the Hydrogush 4000 let out a rumble and water began to flow from its long rubber tube. The tube led to the Time Hole and gushed the water into it like a waterfall.

Eventually, back at the past, the water came out of the Time Hole as a gigantic geyser, rising up towards the volcano. The water washed down the lava and the eruption stopped. Soon, a random cloud came by and blew away the smoke.

Veronica, who was still below the volcano, watched amazed:

"Wow… They actually did it…"

* * *

 _ **Back with the boys…**_

"Yippee! It worked!" Baby Mario cheered.

" _Heh! Awe inspiring, wasn't it? Well, show-and-tell's over. I just wanted to show off. Talk to you fellers later!"_ the call ends.

"The paradoxicated implications are REALLY profound, but at least we can enter the crater." Stuffwell said and jumps back into Mario's pocket.

The boys made their way up again, where they met up with Veronica.

"Good job for dousing out the lava. Now, let's head to the crater." She told.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **I did a great job adding a lot of references and still kept the humor the story should have. Also, I have no idea how did Peach's crown came back to the real one's head if the heroes still had it with them.  
**

 **With the volcano's eruption no more, nothing is going to stop our heroes from heading into the crater! ...Right? Until the next chapter! Please review.**


	13. Bowser meets Bowser

**Here's another interesting chapter!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Bowser meets Bowser**

Once the heroes reached the crater of the volcano, they heard a female voice from up ahead:

"Aw, sweetie, cheer up!"

The heroes looked up ahead and saw a Thwomp couple standing near the crater.

"Cheer gone. No more cheer." Mr. Thwomp said grouchy.

"Don't be like that, thwumpling. There's still some fire left. Jump on in there!" Ms. Thwomp invited. When the heroes approached her, she turned to them. "Hey!" she stomped the ground in anger. "It was YOU imps, wasn't it? YOU'RE the ones who doused the volcano with all that water!"

"Uh oh…" Mario murmured.

"I-It's not what you think! Honestly!" Luigi shook his head nervously.

"Own up! I mean, look at you both! You're obviously plumbers!" Ms. Thwomp growled. "Thanks to your meddling, my hubby's in a stone funk! Jumping into that volcano was his hobby, you terrible men! We've been waiting for the annual eruption all year!"

"Wait, did you just say… Oh no…" Tails gulped, remembering that Veronica mentioned about a Thwomp couple coming for the volcano's eruption.

"Volcano with no fire… Not volcano… Just mountain." Mr. Thwomp muttered. The heroes sweatdropped.

"Are you HEARING this? This is all YOUR fault! So give! Give us back our fun!" Ms. Thwomp yelled furiously. "You gonna help? Speak up! You're not, are you, you bugs?! Then I'll treat you like bugs! NOW YOU GO SQUISH!"

Angered, Ms. Thwomp jumped up into the air and slammed down on the ground, creating a shockwave. Luckily, the heroes dodged it by jumping. Sonic then Home Attacks Ms. Thwomp, followed by the four Mario Bros' Trampoline Bros Attack.

As the brothers were still executing the Trampoline Attack, Young Sonic started his Spin Dash at Ms. Thwomp. However, as Young Sonic was getting close with his Spin Dash, Ms. Thwomp punched him, sending him backwards and accidentally knocked the Trampoline away. Luigi, who was the one about to land on the Trampoline, ended up falling on the ground on his back.

"OW!" he winced, and then Mario, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi landed on his chest eventually. "OWWWWWWWW!"

"Oh… My bad for knocking away the trampoline, guys." Young Sonic apologized.

"Urgh… Damn, you guys are heavy!" Luigi groaned, struggling with the heavy weight on his chest.

Then, they saw Ms. Thwomp leaping into the air, about to create another shockwave.

"Look out!" Veronica managed to stop Ms. Thwomp in place with her magic, giving plenty of time for the piled up brothers to roll out and stand up.

"That sure saved us enough time! Thanks, Veronica!" Mario thanked.

"You're welcome." Veronica replied.

Young Tails took the advantage to shoot out a blast from his arm cannon at the frozen Ms. Thwomp. Tails, on the other hand, flew right above Ms. Thwomp and shouted:

"Plasma Cannon: Drill Mode!"

The plasma from his cannon turned into a giant drill and it pierced through Ms. Thwomp, sending her back to the ground and crumbling into pieces.

But when it looked like it was over, suddenly, Ms. Thwomp shrunk down to size and split herself into four copies. The three copies and the real one lunged towards our heroes, but the babies knocked them back with their hammers.

"Veronica! Do you know who the real one is?" Sonic asked.

"The real one is the one who has the most teeth and not having a scar on the head!" Veronica told.

Sonic then looked closely at the four Ms. Thwomps and found the real one that Veronica mentioned at the far back. "Thanks a lot!" he smirked and Home Attacks the real Ms. Thwomp, leaving her dazed.

"Use this to finish her, Mario Brothers!" Veronica summons a Red Shell and tosses it to Mario.

"The red variant of the Koopa Shell! Thanks!" Mario thanked and placed the Red Shell next to his feet.

"Now let me do something that I really wanted to do for a long time!" Baby Mario grinned and jumped on top of the Red Shell with his hammer equipped.

Mario then kicks the shell, and Baby Mario swung his hammer at Ms. Thwomp when he was close enough before the shell rebounds to Luigi. Luigi kicks the shell next and Baby Mario once again hammers Ms. Thwomp. They continued the rally until Ms. Thwomp collapsed on the ground, facing defeat.

"We did it!" Baby Mario cheered as he gets off the Red Shell.

"Thwompie-pie… They beat me…" Ms. Thwomp said frustrated as she gets up.

Mr. Thwomp then jumps high into the air and slammed down, causing the heroes to bounce.

"STUPID MEN!" he yelled furiously. "TREAT LADIES NICE!"

"Oh, honey-thwump! You're out of your funk!" Ms. Thwomp remarked.

"Mister, we're sorry for beating up your wife, but we came here for a reason." Veronica said.

"Yes, we doused the lava out because we want to enter in so that we can save a pretty lady." Mario added.

"Wait, really?" Mr. Thwomp questioned. The heroes nodded. "You young…and not too bright. Bright noses…but dumb heads. Still, saving pretty lady is important job."

"You… You guys are really going in?" Ms. Thwomp asked.

"We go into mountain! Not volcano…but OK. You all jump on me."

"Alright!" Sonic exclaimed and he and his younger self hopped on, followed by Luigi…on his own.

"Yeah! I made it!" Luigi cheered.

Tails grabbed his younger self's hands and flew with him to Mr. Thwomp's head while Mario helped his younger self climb up before he climbed up on his own.

"Luigi… You know that you had to help your younger self climb up first before you, right?" Veronica glared at Luigi after flying up.

"What?" Luigi raised an eyebrow, until he looked at Baby Luigi still on the ground. "Oh, right…" he sweatdropped.

"Huh? Look! He's trying to climb up on his own!" Young Tails pointed at Baby Luigi, who was holding on to Mr. Thwomp and slowly climbing up.

"Unnnngh… I can do this, I can do this…" Baby Luigi spoke for himself as he struggles to climb up. " _If my bro managed to climb the chain back at Baby Bowser's Castle, then I should be able to climb on Mr. Thwomp too!_ " he thought with confidence.

However, his tiny hand slipped off just as he was almost reaching the top.

"Oh-WAH!" he screamed as he fell down on his butt to the ground. He then started to cry in pain: "WAAAAAAAAAAAH! THAT HURT!"

"Oh no! I was careless again! How could I?" Luigi lamented.

"Don't feel down, Luigi. You can make up to it. Just head down, calm your younger self and help him climb up." Veronica said while placing her hand on Luigi's shoulder.

"Okay." Luigi jumped down and went to his younger self. He then kneeled down and started to gently pet Baby Luigi's head. "There… There…" he spoke in a soft voice as he continues to pet.

With that, Baby Luigi slowly stops crying and closed his eyes while cracking a smile, enjoying his older self's petting.

"Aw…" the rest of the heroes smiled.

Luigi then grabbed Baby Luigi's waist and lifted him up to the rest of the group.

"Thank you!" Baby Luigi thanked.

"No problem!" Luigi replied and jumps on Mr. Thwomp's head afterwards.

"Oh, how exciting! Take me with you, too, sugar-thwomp!" Ms. Thwomp squealed.

" _How in the world is he going to do that?_ " Sonic thought while raising an eyebrow.

"You…too heavy." Mr. Thwomp replied.

" ***gasp*** ex-CUSE me?! How DARE you?" Ms. Thwomp yelled in shock.

She then took a few steps away from her husband and rammed into him, pushing him and the heroes…RIGHT into the crater.

"WHOOOOOOOOAAAA!" the heroes screamed as they fell down into the crater.

"JERK!" Ms. Thwomp scoffed.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

"Bwah ha ha!" Bowser laughed evilly. "This place is a pit! It's hot, stinky, dangerous, and one humongous fire hazard! I LOVE IT! Talk about a perfect place for me to build a second castle!"

Then, Baby Bowser fell down into the room, landing a few feet away from Bowser at the hall.

"Gwah ha ha ha!" Baby Bowser laughed. "This place is sooo nasty! Boiling hot, reeking, and just MADE for trouble! TALK ABOUT AWESOME! This is the EXACT place to build my second castle!"

He then walked towards the end of the hall…and found himself standing in front of his adult self.

"Hey! You there!" both Bowsers shouted.

"This place belongs to ME, you twerp!" Bowser growled.

"Take off, gramps! This place is MINE!" Baby Bowser growled back.

"Hold it… DID YOU JUST CALL ME GRAMPS?!" Bowser roared.

"Grrr! You look familiar! Yeah, you look just like a bigger, fatter me!" Baby Bowser stated. "You copycat!"

Bowser stomped towards his younger self and hissed:

"YOU'RE the copycat! You can walk like me and talk like me, but you ain't me. You're just a shrimpy brat!"

"You're one rude dude, tubby!" Baby Bowser stormed. "Who raised ya, Chain Chomps?"

"Me? You're the one with the bad attitude, Goomba-breath!" Bowser gritted his fangs. "You'll never amount to nothin'!"

"GRRR!" both Bowsers snarled.

* * *

 _ **Back with the heroes…**_

"…AAAAAAAAAHHHH! ***THUD!*** " the heroes screamed as they landed inside the volcano with a loud 'thud', sending them flying out in all directions and landing on the floor.

"Oomph! She scary. I pay for that." Mr. Thwomp muttered. "Now you know why you treat ladies nice."

"We can see that…" Sonic groaned as he slowly gets up, along with the others.

"Pretty lady you look for in this place… She stolen?" Mr. Thwomp asked.

"Yep." Mario and Luigi nodded. They then told everything to Mr. Thwomp.

"Mmm… Very long story. But understood." Mr. Thwomp said. "Big Bowser is in bottom of volcano."

"Thanks for telling us." Tails thanked.

"OK. You hurry and rescue pretty lady."

The heroes made a nod and looked around the area.

"Okay… This place is even hotter than Gritzy Desert." Sonic wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Well, duh! We're inside a freaking volcano!" Young Sonic rolled his eyes.

This place is called the Thwomp Caverns: hot and dense caverns located inside the volcano. There are many walls with magma flowing inside, more Thwomp-like monuments, enemies able to survive in this hot area like Gold Koopeleons, Blazing Shroobs and Thwack Totens are patrolling everywhere and there were many dangerous obstacles.

The heroes had to overcome the caves' dangerous obstacles, solve puzzles and clear trials, which are the ones involving the removal of the colored blocks blocking their path down.

* * *

 _ **A little while later…**_

"Is it me, or is it getting hotter every time we take a step down?" Young Tails asked.

"Oh good, I'm not the only one who's thinking that…" Sonic said in relief.

"Isn't it obvious? We're getting closer and closer to the volcano's bottom!" Mario stated.

"Well, there's our last Thwomp Elevator." Veronica pointed.

"Thank god! I'm literally DYING in here!" Young Sonic shouted in relief as they all got on the elevator.

"We go DOWN!" the Thwomp said as he plummets down to the lowest floor of the volcano, which was the same place where both Bowsers met. Strangely enough, only Peach was there, still with the Shroob Mushroom on her face, while none of the Bowsers were there.

"Whoa… Is this what the bottom of the volcano looks like?" Luigi looked around.

The kids then saw Princess Peach at the very end of the hall, while the adults were busy looking around.

"Look! There's the adult princess!" Young Tails exclaimed. "Guys! She's here!"

But the adults didn't listen. Baby Luigi, Young Sonic and Young Tails walked towards Peach while Baby Mario walked back and called his older self:

"HEY! OLDER ME!" he pulls down Mario's pant leg to call his attention.

"What is it?" Mario asked.

"The princess! The princess is over there!" Baby Mario pointed.

The adult heroes turned to where the infant was pointing and saw Peach. Baby Mario then joins with the other kids as Mario exclaims:

"Let's go get her, everyone!"

"All right!" Sonic replied as they made their way to the end of the hall.

"Eh? What's that in the ground?" Baby Luigi noticed something coming out of the ground in front of Peach.

Just then, Baby Bowser emerged out from the ground by spinning on his shell like a drill.

"Hey! That's-!" but Baby Mario was interrupted when Baby Bowser knocked the kids backwards.

"GAAAAAAH!" they screamed as they flew back next to their adult selves.

"Babies!" Mario shouted in shock as he and Luigi quickly gave their baby selves piggybacks.

"What the—NO WAY! Him again?!" Sonic yelled in unbelief.

"Gwah ha ha ha!" Baby Bowser laughed evilly. "Don't think I got punted off Yoshi's Island like some scrub! No way! I LEFT! On MY terms! And now I'm here getting ready to launch the revenge scheme to end all revenge schemes!"

"That's what you'll see!" Mario growled as the heroes charged at Baby Bowser until another drilling shell came out of the ground as well, knocking everyone backwards as Baby Bowser laughed.

The shell that came out was much larger and was similar to Baby Bowser's shell. The one who came out…was the adult Bowser!

"I can't believe it! Bowser is teaming up with his younger self too!" Tails said shocked.

"Bwah ha ha!" Bowser laughed evilly. "This little firebrand reminds me of a younger me. Look at him! The kid's got a flair for evil!"

"' _Firebrand'? Isn't that the name of my hand power that I obtained back at the Beanbean Kingdom?_ " Mario thought while raising an eyebrow. " _Oh well, it's probably a reference._ "

"I'm bringing him on board as my partner, and the two of us are gonna thrash you losers!" Bowser continued. Baby Bowser climbed on his back and grinned:

"This is the real deal! Winner take all!"

"You might have your own partner with you, but these ones with me also have partners from the past! That's why you'll never lose to the Partners in Time!" Veronica grinned. The heroes with her grinned as well.

"Let's see about that!" Bowser smirked. "TAKE THIS!" he jumped up and slammed on the ground creating a shockwave, but the heroes dodged it.

"Really? Are you copying Ms. Thwomp or something?" Sonic teased. "Well, then I'll do the same thing I did first with her!" he Home Attacks Bowser, which knocked Baby Bowser from his back.

"OW!" Baby Bowser groaned from the impact. "Pesky hedgehog! Burn!" he breathes fire from his mouth at Sonic, but he dodged it.

"FINALLY! For once Bowser doesn't call me a rat! Did you become dumb or something when you got older?" Sonic teased Bowser again.

"DON'T CALL ME DUMB, FILTHY RAT!" Bowser yelled and tries to punch him, but he dodged that attack too.

"AND DON'T CALL ME A RAT!" Sonic yelled back as he does a Surprise Attack at Bowser, which hit like an uppercut.

"Grrr! This is getting annoying! How about this!" Baby Bowser took out a hammer while Bowser retreated into his shell. Baby Bowser swung his hammer at Bowser, sending him towards Mario.

"Oh, you wanna play? Then we'll play too!" Baby Mario grinned as he hammered Bowser's shell back at Baby Bowser, but he hit it back and send it towards Luigi this time.

"Joining in too!" Baby Luigi hammered Bowser's shell back.

They continued the volley until Baby Bowser's timing went off and the shell hit him.

"UGH!" he groaned. "STINKY BABIES!"

"GRR! Let me take care of them!" Bowser growled and was about to breathe fire at the heroes.

"Not on my watch!" Veronica send out her Time Stopping spell at Bowser, but he retreated into his shell and the spell bounced off of it. "What? How?" she couldn't believe that.

"HA! Nice try!" Bowser smirked as he came out of his shell and then suddenly his tail was grabbed…by Mario. "HEY!"

"Next time, don't leave your tail out!" Mario smirked. "Well, let's finish this in the old, fashioned way!"

"Wait, don't tell me… NO! NOT AGAIN!" Bowser yelled, knowing what Mario was about to do.

Mario spun Bowser around just like in that certain game you all know about and shouted:

"So long-a, Bowser!"

At the same time, Mario throws Bowser and he crashed into the wall, with his head stuck into it. Baby Bowser went in shock when he saw that.

"Now I know that your tail is always your weakest spot!" Mario teased.

"Wow! That was an amazing trick! I think I'll do that next time I'm fighting Bowser!" Baby Mario exclaimed.

"Believe me, you'll be using that a lot!" Mario grinned.

"NO! COOL DUDE!" Baby Bowser yelled. "GRR! Now you've done it! Now I'll have to handle you by myself!"

"Not if we do it first! Mario Brothers!" Veronica summoned a red orb with a Chain Chomp in it and tossed it to Baby Mario.

"Yay! The Pocket Chomp!" Baby Mario exclaimed.

He opens the orb, releasing the Chain Chomp that chases after the brothers immediately. Mario then comes by and stomps Baby Bowser's head while being chased by the Chain Chomp, with Baby Luigi riding it and Baby Mario was at the Chain Chomp's chain holding his hammer. Once he got closer to Baby Bowser, Baby Mario hammered him and the Chain Chomp goes off screen. It then came back, except Luigi was the one being chased and he did the same thing as Mario did. The babies also changed positions: Baby Mario was the one riding the Chain Chomp, while Baby Luigi was the one riding the chain with his hammer out. Once he was close, Baby Luigi hammered Baby Bowser. The process continued until Baby Bowser was finally defeated.

Bowser, who was still in the wall, managed to regain conscious and pulled himself out from the wall and fell down to where Baby Bowser was lying.

"CRUD!" both Bowsers lamented in defeat.

All of a sudden, the whole place began to shake.

"Huh? What's happening?" Young Sonic questioned.

The earthquake became louder...and it stopped…?

"Uh…is that it?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, a large lava geyser shot out from where the Bowsers were, sending them into the air!

"WHOA!" the heroes flinched as they watched the Bowsers being launched upwards.

The geyser sent out the panicking Bowsers out of the Thwomp Caverns and into the high skies. Just then, a Shroob Saucer flew by and accidentally knocked Bowser down from the Thwomp Elevator.

"GLAAAAAAAARRGH! Little dude! Get stronger and more evil! Always!" Bowser shouted.

"Big dude! I'm gonna be even bigger, stronger, and eviler than you someday!" Baby Bowser shouted back as he leans down from the elevator's edge.

Bowser then fell and fell…and he landed RIGHT into the Time Hole sending him back to the present. As for Baby Bowser, he kept going higher and higher, until the elevator started to fall. Luckily, it landed right at the top of what appears to be a LARGE UFO.

"Did I just land on something?" Baby Bowser wondered.

* * *

 _ **Back inside the volcano…**_

"Well, there they went." Sonic smiled.

"Yeah! Now we should be able to return Princess Peach back to our time!" Mario exclaimed as they walked to Peach.

But then, they heard a loud noise from the outside, followed by a laser shoot that unknown to them, opened up a large hole leading to the volcano. Then, a long purple tube came into the room and it abducted Peach!

"PEACH! NO!" Mario cried out.

"Oh hell no! We're not about to lose her again! HURRY! After her!" Sonic led everyone to the tractor beam, following Peach inside the massive UFO.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Of course there has to be humor even in the boss fights! I think I did a pretty well job on the fight with both Bowsers by adding that one reference I keep mentioning in my stories plus the way Mario throws Bowser!  
**

 **Also, that part where Luigi calms down his younger self by petting his head was for me the cutest moment in the game. The other heroes' reaction reflects the same reaction I had the first time I saw that scene. ;)**

 **Uh oh! Peach was abducted! Will the heroes save her? Is she really Peach? Find out in the next chapter! Please review.**


	14. Fake Alert!

**Next chapter done! We're almost reaching my favorite part of the game turning into a way more interesting part!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Fake Alert!**

 _Aboard the Mother Ship…_

Inside, the round blue door opened up and it started to shoot everyone out one by one.

"WOAH!" Mario screamed, as he was the first one to be shot out.

"WHOA!" Sonic was the next one to be launched.

"AAAHH!" followed up by Tails, and then Veronica.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked.

"We're fine, but where are the kids?" Sonic asked.

"WOOHOHOHOO!" just then, they heard Baby Mario having fun while being launched upwards. Then, Young Sonic and Young Tails came out and landed normally.

Mario rose his hands up and aims to catch Baby Mario, who was starting to fall down. Soon, he managed to catch his younger self just fine.

"Hahahahaha! That was fun! I kinda want to do it again!" Baby Mario exclaimed.

"Glad you liked it!" Mario smiled.

"Hey, where is Luigi?" Tails asked.

"WAAAAAAAAH!" Luigi came out from the door and was launched upwards, just like what happened with Baby Mario.

"WOWOWOWOWOAAAAH!" Baby Luigi was the last one to be shot upwards, and the door closed.

"Uh oh… That landing is going to hurt…" Tails murmured.

"So, anyone got a pillow or something?" Young Tails asked.

"I got just the magic we need." Veronica said and used her magic to create a bluish-white fluffy cloud for the two to land.

Luigi started to get closer to the floor, and he landed...

 ***THUD!***

…two inches away from the cloud.

"Ow…" he groaned.

"…Are you kidding me?" Sonic sweatdropped.

"Ooh… That's going to hurt in the morning." Tails cringed at his best friend's pain.

Baby Luigi, on the other hand, landed successfully on the fluffy cloud.

"Thanks, Veronica!" Baby Luigi thanked.

"No problem!" Veronica smiled. She then looked at Luigi on the floor. "Are you alright, Luigi?" she asked in concern.

"Yeah…the floor cushioned the blow…" Luigi muttered.

"Hang on…" Veronica used her Reversing Time magic on Luigi to revert him back to his state before he crashed on the floor, and all of the pain was gone.

Then, Stuffwell came out and looked around before speaking:

"Travesty! Princess Peach is nowhere to be seen!"

"Are you serious? Hmm… That's not good." Mario shook his head.

"Perhaps she's been taken farther into the ship." Stuffwell guessed. "We MUST find her!"

"You bet we have!" Sonic agreed, and Stuffwell jumps back. "Come on, let's go find Peach." They started to walk. However, Veronica was having a bad feeling as she was flying with the heroes.

" _Why am I getting a vision from the future that the Princess Peach we'll see it's a fake? What's going on?_ " she thought with a worried expression. " _I think she is a fake, but my other visions show that the boys won't believe me… Why are they always focusing on Peach so much?_ "

The Shroob Mother Ship is the UFO that Princess Shroob uses for combat and transportation. It has a futuristic interior with pink floor and neon green walls. There were also some rooms where a strange green liquid was pouring inside some large tubs, and some Shroobs were relaxing in that liquid.

* * *

 _ **One long trip around the Mother Ship later…**_

"Well, that was weird." Sonic said once the heroes approached a door.

"What was?" Tails asked.

"Nothing. It's just… We couldn't hit the Adult Shine Block when it was dark, and yet when our younger selves hit the light, we could hit it."

"I'll have to agree; that seemed a bit odd than I imagined." Luigi said.

"Do you think maybe the Shroobs made it impossible to hit objects in the darkness? With their advanced technology, that could be the reason." Mario pondered.

"Well, whatever. That was just annoying. Let's just go inside that door." Sonic shrugged as they went inside the door.

On the other side, they saw Peach with her back turned standing in the middle of the room.

"Hey! Peach!" Mario called, but Peach strangely didn't respond.

"Hold on… Something is not right." Baby Mario noticed something odd on her for some reason and walked towards her. What shocked the entire group except Veronica was that Baby Mario pulled out his hammer and lifted it up!

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Young Sonic yelled in shock. He attempts to dash and stop Baby Mario, but Veronica grabbed his arm.

"Wait! Look!" Veronica exclaimed as they saw Baby Mario's hammer passing right through Peach.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Sonic shouted in shock.

"The real Peach would've dodged that." Veronica concluded. She then saw Baby Mario sticking his hand through 'Peach'. "See? It's a hologram."

"I figured it was false because how come she's already wearing her crown? I still have it right here!" Baby Mario confirmed as he showed Peach's crown before putting it back into his pocket.

"So we walked ALL this way just to find a STUPID hologram?!" Sonic growled under his breath. "Gimme a break!"

"If that's a hologram, then where is the real Peach?" Mario questioned.

" **()*#(%$!"** suddenly, the whole ship began to shake and a Shroob noise was heard, startling the heroes.

The double doors opened up and many Shroobs came out, surrounding the heroes.

"Oh, crap! We're surrounded!" Sonic flinched.

What was more shocking was that the Shroobs aimed their laser guns at our heroes! Everyone had a different reaction to that: Mario, Sonic and Young Sonic braced themselves, Tails, Young Tails and Veronica were frightened, Luigi and Baby Mario were freaking out and Baby Luigi was the only one crying.

Then, the Shroobs at the front opened their way for…Princess Peach? She wasn't wearing her crown and still had the attached Shroob Mushroom unlike the hologram, but why would the Shroobs open way for their main enemy?

"Eh? Hey! Guys! There's Princess Peach!" Baby Mario called out upon noticing her. "And she isn't wearing her crown! So this one must be real!"

"Huh?" everyone questioned, until they shifted their gazes at Peach. "Peach!"

But then, 'Peach' suddenly chuckled in a strange voice, confusing the heroes. They then watched her pulling out the Shroob Mushroom off of her face, revealing a pair of red demon eyes before she shoved away her costume with a swift arm movement, revealing that she was actually Princess Shroob in disguise!

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" all of the heroes except Veronica yelled in shock.

"Oh no… So my visions were true…" Veronica murmured.

"(I AM PRINCESS SHROOB.) **"** Princess Shroob spoke. **"** (YOU INTERLOPERS...WILL BE CONSUMED!) **"** She cackled alongside the Shroobs.

Just then, one of the Shroobs took out a camera and started to take snaps before shoving another Shroob out of the way. It then took out its laser gun and shot all of the Shroobs in the room, much to everyone, including Princess Shroob's surprise. The princess ran off, and the Shroob stood in front of the shocked heroes, who still haven't got rid of their widened eyes ever since Princess Shroob revealed herself.

The Shroob does a fancy spin before a cloud of smoke popped up, revealing none other than Kylie Koopa! She stops spinning and strikes her pose.

"Kylie!" Baby Mario and Baby Luigi chirped.

"Now's our chance, whiskers! This way!" Kylie directed them to the elevator.

They all entered the elevator, which would take them to the Mother Ship's second floor.

"I still can't believe we fell for this that easily…" Sonic muttered.

"Yeah, those Shroobs are such great tricksters." Young Sonic threw in.

"Gee whiz! You were in the frying pan but good, weren't you, boys?" Kylie asked. She then strikes her pose again. "Who knows what woulda been your fate if a certain gorgeous reporter weren't around?"

"You're right! Imagine that! So thanks for saving us just in time, Kylie!" Sonic thanked while giving thumbs up.

"Well, you scratched my back, whiskers, I scratched yours! Now we're all square." Then, something came into her mind. "Say, by the way, fellas… Did you really think that was the real Princess Peach this whole time?"

"Yeah… Unfortunately." Mario nodded.

"I actually had visions from the future telling me that this Peach was fake, but I didn't want to tell you guys because I had another vision where it shows that you didn't believe me." Veronica said.

"We…wouldn't believe you? Oh god…" Luigi said surprised.

"And what's worse is that we actually took Princess Shroob to our time period…" Mario added. "That was probably part of her plan."

"What's that? You took that dame through a time hole to the future Mushroom Kingdom?" Kylie questioned.

But Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, who were just playing around in the elevator, interrupted Kylie's thoughts when they began to call the adults' attention with their jumping noises.

"Not now, boys, Kylie Koopa is trying to speak." Veronica told them.

"Oh… Okay, mom." Both baby brothers replied and stayed quiet. Kylie then continued:

"Gee whiz, I gotta say, fellas, I'm all back-to-front on this whole can of Wigglers… Are you saying you think that was Princess Shroob's plan all along? Talk about a twist!"

"What do you mean?" Luigi asked.

"Yeah, she sets herself up as Princess Peach and infiltrates Peach's Castle in the future… What she's really after…is the chance to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom of your time, too! The gal of this gal!"

"WHAT?!" the adult boys flinched.

"Oh NO! This is bad!" Mario said shocked.

"Conquering both Mushroom Kingdoms… We CAN'T let that happen!" Sonic growled. "We HAVE to find a way to stop these Shroobs ASAP!"

"But things didn't work out so well for our Ms. Purple Poison, now did they?" Kylie pondered. "If that lump Bowser, if that's what you called him, hadn't gotten into the mix..." she then decided to change the subject. "Oh… I'm just blowing hot air over here!" she pulls out the same purple key she had shown them in Gritzy Caves. "Remember this little beauty? Yeah, sure you do! It just may be the key to victory, whiskers!"

Soon, the elevator finally reached the second floor and the door opened.

"This dame's got a hunch…at day's end…this…will be…the biggest, bestest scoop in the history of scoops!" Kylie strikes her pose. This left the kids confused. "Show a little get-up-and-go, whiskers! It's gravy time! Feast your peepers on my big break!" Kylie then walks out of the elevator, with the rest following suit.

They reached a room where there was a large keyhole in a strange mushroom cap-like machine.

"Look, fellas!" Kylie exclaimed as she shows them the key. "You can bet your whiskers this is where the key goes!" she then inserted the key into the keyhole and twisted it. Then, some earthquakes came in as Kylie speaks "And now, at long last… The secret of the Shroobs… The scoop of a lifetime…"

Eventually, the purple mushroom inside the machine emitted a glow and some of its energy flowed into the cables.

"Ah-ha! Ah-ha! The mystery! The scoop!" Kylie exclaimed with excitement as she took snaps with her camera.

While she was doing that, Baby Mario was so excited that he began to run around in circles, but accidentally bumped into Baby Luigi in the process, causing him to cry. Thankfully, Luigi calmed him down by tossing him into the air.

"LET'S SEE IT!" Kylie finished.

All of a sudden, a trap door opened up below them!

"Hey… What gives?" Kylie questioned. "This ain't good…"

"Does it feel like we're standing on nothing?" Young Sonic asked awkwardly as he looked down. "…Uh oh…"

Everybody then started to go in a panic state as they stood in the air in cartoony fashion.

"AW, RASPBERRIES! WE'RE DONE FOR!" Kylie panicked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" everyone fell. Fortunately, Kylie managed to hold on to the key just in time to avoid falling. Unfortunately, for our heroes, that same blue door from where they entered opened up and they all fell in.

"NOOOO! WHY?" Kylie lamented. "Why does everything always comes up lemons? SOMEBODY, HELP! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY!" then, many Shroobs gathered next to Kylie, followed up by Princess Shroob. "…Hello? YOIKS!"

" **$(#)% &" **Princess Shroob spoke.

"Wh-What gives?" Kylie asked. She saw one of the Shroobs picking up another one and holding it above its head. "Put that Shroob down!" she panicked. The Shroob threw the other at her, and knocked her off the key and she fell as well: "YOOOOIKS!"

" **)(#) &%)()!" **Princess Shroob and the Shroobs cackled.

At the top of the Mother Ship, Baby Bowser was still there and he jumped above the Thwomp Elevator.

"GWAH HA!" Baby Bowser laughed. "What's all the racket about? Somebody eating cookies in there? I'm starving up here! Here I come, cookie-hogs!"

He then stomped the glass of the dome to try to break through, but it didn't break.

"HEE-YAAAARGH!" Baby Bowser roared in frustration and stomps harder. This time, it worked; the glass shattered and he fell in through.

Once inside, he quickly hid behind the machine as one Shroob became confused, thinking it had heard something from behind. But it just shrugged it off and continues to join the cackle.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, in Yoshi's Island…**_

"Come on, Yoshis! We've got to repair the village!" Amy exclaimed. But then, she stopped for a second and clutched her head. "Ooh… That image keeps popping up in my brain…" but she decides to snap out of it. "Know what I decided? I'm not gonna think about it anymore! I'm having fun with the Yoshis, and that's good enough for me!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Kylie screamed…and landed right on Amy's head before bouncing off. "Whatta escape… And whatta drop!" she scratched her head.

"…I REMEMBER!" Amy suddenly shouted, startling Kylie. What did she remember?

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Where did our heroes land? Find out next time! Please review.  
**


	15. Journey to the stars

**We're almost reaching my favorite part of the game!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Journey to the stars**

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" the heroes screamed, as they were getting closer to the ground. Luckily, they all bounced off a Shroob-like mushroom planted in the ground that softened their landings.

"That mushroom really saved us!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Yeah, but… Where are we?" Young Sonic asked as they looked around.

"I think… I think this is Toad Town." Veronica said.

However, due to the Shroobs' takeover, Toad Town has suffered a dramatic change: Shroob Mushrooms were growing everywhere like fungi, destroyed Toad houses, there were Toads turned into Shroob Mushrooms, and the whole place was completely deserted, except for Shroids patrolling this devastated area. The heroes' eyes widened by their sights.

"Is this Toad Town? Oh no…" Tails whimpered.

"The Shroobs… How could they?!" Mario growled under his breath.

"And now they're probably going after the Mushroom Kingdom of the present, I fear." Veronica lamented.

"Well, since the real Princess Peach is locked in the castle, I think we'll have to focus on gathering the Cobalt Shards now." Sonic stated.

"Are you sure about that?" Veronica hesitated.

"Of course! Didn't you say that the castle in this time is under guard by the Shroobs? So we have no other option."

"You sure you're feeling okay, Veronica? At the whole time in this adventure, you've been acting quite hesitant when talking about collecting Cobalt Shards." Mario suspected. "Are you hiding something from us?"

"No. I'm fine." Veronica responded. "And I can prove this because I'm getting another energy from the Cobalt Star nearby."

"You do? Where is the next one located?" Luigi asked.

"It's in the Star Shrine, located at the very top of Star Hill." Veronica answered. "Remember back at the Mother Ship where I created that cloud to try and save you and Baby Luigi from the hard landing? That cloud is made of Star Dust, and we, fairies of Hollijolli Village, are born with Star Dust from Star Hill."

"Really? So you're made of Star Dust?" Tails asked.

"That's correct. Now, the only way to access Star Hill is to use a certain key. And luckily, because of our connection to this hill, we fairies hold the key with us." She then pulled out a pretty and delicate red rose. "The key is this rose, which comes in all colors for each fairy. They receive their own colored roses during their birth. These roses are a gift from the ruler of the stars."

"Ruler of the stars?" Young Tails questioned.

"Yes, the Star Shrine is actually this princess' castle. This princess has immortality and she watches over the balance of the stars in the sky. She gets fascinated with the most powerful stars, the ones she call the seven magical stars. I actually don't know much about that, maybe she can tell you more once we get there. Now all we have to do is to head southeast from here to access Star Hill with my rose."

The heroes nodded and wandered around the destroyed town looking at the destruction around them. Tears began to escape from Baby Luigi's eyes as he watches this whole scenery.

"Hey, it'll be okay, bro." Baby Mario said softly as he hugged him. Baby Luigi smiled back and they continued walking.

"Say, back when I told you to stay calm, did you guys actually refer me as a mother?" Veronica asked with a smile.

"Oh, yeah! You kinda acted like a mother to both of us. Maybe it's because of the way you spoke to us and took care of us too." Baby Mario replied.

"Oh! That's so kind of you!" Veronica smiled.

* * *

 _ **A while later…**_

They finally reached the southeast corner of the town, where a large yellow star was printed on the ground.

"Now, everyone stay on that yellow star while I'll stay at the middle and use my rose and we'll be taken to Star Hill in no time." Veronica instructed.

The boys then stood on each of the star's five points while Veronica flew to the middle. She rose her red rose into the sky, and eventually, the rose emitted a light blue glow, and that glow surrounded everyone. The heroes then disintegrated in small particles of white light taking to the skies.

The group reassembled at the very edge of Star Hill; a magical and mystical hill usually lauded for its beautiful and romantic view, and seen as the place where wishes come true. It's usually located north of Peach's Castle, but Veronica used the shortcut that only is able to use with the magic rose. The blue road is all made of glittering stars with large light-blue fallen stars decorating it and the main hill under the road is made of green crystals.

"Well, here we are. This is Star Hill, the entrance of the Star Realm." Veronica said.

All of the boys looked around and were amazed at how beautiful Star Hill is. They couldn't help but smile at this place.

"Wow… This place is so pretty!" Young Tails awed.

"And sparkly!" Baby Luigi added.

"The energy from the Cobalt Star is getting stronger in here... I can feel it." Veronica told.

"So all we have to do is to reach the top?" Sonic guessed.

"That's right."

They then made their way to the top. As they were walking, they were admiring the view.

"Man, this place is gorgeous!" Tails exclaimed.

"Wow, imagine seeing meteor showers while at the top." Luigi smiled. "That'd be pretty sweet and romantic."

"Funny you should say that, because Star Hill is mostly spoken by how romantic it looks." Veronica explained. "I've heard that many Toads already came here for a date so that they could watch the falling stars."

"Is that so? Hmm, in that case, maybe I should take Peach on a date here after our adventure!" Mario thought out loud.

"That sounds like a great idea! I think I'll do the same with Princess Daisy!" Luigi beamed.

" _Heh, the brothers are already thinking about their girlfriends, huh?_ " Sonic thought while smirking.

Once they were almost at the top, they came upon a magenta Shroob facing away from our heroes.

"Oh great…" Sonic muttered. "We have to deal with another freak."

The Shroob heard him and turned around, flinching upon seeing the heroes. He then called upon lots of Shroobs that fell down from who knows where, and a Shroob Saucer flew by and dropped…a HUGE Shroobfied Bob-omb!

"You gotta be kidding me! A Shroobfied Bob-omb?!" Young Sonic yelled in shock.

The three Shroobs that remained struggled to hold the Shroob-omb, making Tails think of something.

"Let's see what happens when we take one of them out." He said as he equips his arm cannon.

"I think we need to take down two of them, so I'll join in too!" Young Tails threw in and equipped his arm cannon as well.

Both Tailses shot blasts from their arm cannons at two Shroobs holding the Shroob-omb. Once both Shroobs were defeat, the Shroob-omb became way too heavy for one Shroob to hold it that it squished him and the bomb rolled to the Commander Shroob, blowing him up and sending him next to the heroes.

"Got you now." Sonic smirked as he Spin Dashes at the Commander Shroob.

Commander Shroob then called four Shroobs and he kicked them to Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails.

The baby Mario Bros smashed the two Shroobs with their hammers, Young Sonic Spin Jumped on another, and Young Tails smacked the remaining one away with his tails.

"Heh, you gotta do better than that." Young Sonic teased.

Enraged, Commander Shroob fired a laser at the kids, but they dodged it.

"Come on! Let's use the Ice Flower!" Mario said as he pulled out the Ice Flower from his pocket.

"Oh yeah!" Luigi grinned as the adult and baby brothers absorbed the Ice Flower, transforming them into their ice forms.

They shot many ice balls at Commander Shroob, until he faced defeat and the Ice Flower's effect wore off. But he wasn't done yet; he commanded three more Shroobs to bring in another Shroob-omb and throw it at the heroes as a last resort.

"I don't think so." Veronica smirked as she froze the Shroob-omb in midair with her magic. "Mario Brothers, use your Fire Flower! Now!"

"Okey Dokey!" Mario nodded. "Fire Flower!"

Once both versions of the brothers transformed into their Fire Flower forms, they all combined their fireballs to create a large one and sent it at the Shroob-omb's fuse…and the huge bomb blew up, taking the three Shroobs and Commander Shroob with it.

"Well, that's one way to end a battle." Sonic remarked. "But now, this Shroob is out of our way, so let's keep going."

They all nodded and moved on, until they finally reached the very top of the hill. The top had a star-shaped platform surrounded by star columns. The heroes stepped on the star platform as it started to glow.

"This is it, everyone. This is the very top of Star Hill." Veronica said.

Suddenly, the incomplete Cobalt Star flew out of Stuffwell and floated in front of them before taking off into the starry skies, where it changed into a spiritual version of the complete Cobalt Star.

"Whoa…" Sonic's eyes widened as the spirit began to speak:

" _I am the Star Sprite that lives within the Cobalt Star. I have tapped into the sacred power of this hill so that I might speak with you. I think you may have already figured this out, but I hold the power to defeat the Shroobs."_

A silhouette of Princess Shroob and the Cobalt Star being shattered appeared in the skies.

" _However, Princess Shroob also knew this truth. She broke me while battling a beautiful woman that I can't recall… Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, Veronica… Young kids… You are the last remaining hope to save this kingdom. But please, you must hurry… My pieces must all be brought together once more."_

Next, a silhouette of one of the Cobalt Star shards, which was an upside down neon green star, showed up alongside a double door of some sort.

" _If you collect the middle shard of the three ones that still remain… You'll be able to use it to pierce the Shroob barrier that guards Princess Peach's castle. And then, when you collect the last shard… You will become the heroes of this land. Now hurry! Collect my remaining shards…"_

The spirit then sends out a twisting blue star, creating the Star Road; a road made of Star Dust connecting Star Hill with the Star Shrine.

"Yay! A road made of stars!" Baby Mario cheered.

A silhouette of the gateway leading to the Star Shrine showed up in the sky.

" _I believe the princess of the Star Realm has a shard sleeping within the Star Shrine ahead…"_

Just then, Baby Luigi started to cry at the sight of the spirit.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Baby Luigi wailed out loud.

"Shh… Why are you crying, Luigi?" Young Tails asked as he rubs Baby Luigi's head gently.

But Baby Luigi couldn't explain, as he kept crying.

"Hmm… That's really weird. He just started crying all of a sudden." Tails pondered.

Luigi then tried to calm down his younger self by attempting to toss him into the air as always, but Baby Luigi wasn't interested and turned away from his older self.

"Golly! What's with younger me? He even rejected my air tossing! I'm starting to get worried…" Luigi spoke in a worried tone.

"Yeah, that's seriously not normal for him to refuse your air tossing. I wonder what's wrong?" Young Tails wondered.

" _For now, this is all the aid I may offer you. We will speak again, of that I am sure."_ The spirit finished talking and vanished. The incomplete Cobalt Star flew back into Stuffwell.

"So, as we surmised, it was the foul Princess Shroob who shattered the Cobalt Star." Stuffwell said.

"Yes. I'm surprised that the spirit doesn't remember the one who was battling Princess Shroob… That leaves one last piece of the puzzle remaining." Mario pondered.

"I know, but we must hurry to gather the remaining shards! We must!" Stuffwell then noticed the crying Baby Luigi. "By the way, why is Baby Luigi crying?"

Everyone eyed at Baby Luigi, who was still wailing even with the spirit gone.

"We don't know! We tried everything we could to calm him down, but he wouldn't stop crying…" Tails told.

"Hmm, I think I know why he's crying like that." Veronica said as she flies to Baby Luigi. "He seems to be afraid of the spirit who just spoke with us."

"Perhaps he felt something emanate from it that we did not?" Stuffwell guessed. "Is it possible?"

"I don't know. That spirit seemed normal to me." Sonic shrugged. Then, the wailing becomes louder and Sonic couldn't take it: "Argh! Could someone here try to shut him up already?! It's driving me crazy!"

"Let me do it." Veronica said as she picks up Baby Luigi in her arms. "But I need to speak with him in person. That means you all wait here while I calm him down without you around." She instructed as she flew with Baby Luigi to the Star Road, and the rest of the group waits for her, but they all had confused looks on their faces.

"What did she mean by that?" Young Sonic asked.

"I have no idea." Sonic answered as he shook his head.

"You know, I'm pretty sure Veronica is hiding something from us." Mario confirmed. "The question is: what?"

* * *

 _ **With Veronica…**_

She arrived at the Star Shrine's Gateway while carrying the crying Baby Luigi in her arms. She then gently pets Baby Luigi's head as she speaks in a motherly tone:

"There… You don't need to cry. I'm here." She then wipes off Baby Luigi's tears. "Your self-proclaimed mother." She smiled at the last sentence.

" ***sniff*** V-Veronica… I-I-I'm scared…" Baby Luigi sniffled, still sobbing.

"What are you scared about? Tell me, what did you see in that spirit that left you frightened?" Veronica asked once again in a motherly tone as she wipes off more of Baby Luigi's tears.

"I-I saw…something…evil… ***sniff*** " Baby Luigi answered.

" _Hmm… So he knows that too… I think it's best for me to tell him._ " Veronica thought. "You see, Baby Luigi, I know exactly what is in that spirit."

This left Baby Luigi so surprised that he immediately stopped sobbing.

"You… You know?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Yes." Veronica replied as she placed Baby Luigi down. She then kneeled down to his level and requested "Listen, I'm going to tell you the real secret of the Cobalt Star. But you have to promise me that you won't tell it to anybody, including your adult self. Promise?"

"Yes, I promise." Baby Luigi smiled while nodding. "No telling anybody, neither older me."

"That's the spirit. It'll be our little secret." Veronica said. "Now, let me explain…"

* * *

 _ **A while later…**_

Back at Star Hill, the group was waiting impatiently for the return of Veronica and Baby Luigi. Soon enough, they spotted the pair descending from the Star Road, with Veronica holding Baby Luigi's hand.

"Took you long enough!" Sonic exclaimed. "And wow! You actually managed to calm down Baby Luigi by your own, Veronica! I'm impressed!"

"You're welcome, Sonic." Veronica replied. "Now, you guys definitely want to meet the princess of this realm, right?"

"For sure! And that's also because the spirit said that she's has a Cobalt Shard with her." Mario nodded.

"All right, I'll guide you all to her. But you better be prepared; there's a Star Gate who guards the entrance to the princess's castle who can read the hearts of anyone. Only the ones with such pure kindness in their hearts are allowed to enter her castle."

"Really? There's that, too? Wow, this realm is filled with rules!" Tails said surprised.

"Indeed. Well, shall we move on?"

"Sure!" the rest said in unison.

Veronica then placed Baby Luigi on Luigi's back so that he could carry him in piggyback like normal. But before flying to lead the group, she gave a small wink to Baby Luigi and whispered:

"No telling anybody, okay?"

"I won't!" Baby Luigi whispered back, which caught Luigi's attention.

"Did you say something?" he asked as he turned his head to his infant self.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, older me!" Baby Luigi faked out, hiding the secret between him and Veronica.

Luigi just shrugged it off and followed the group to cross the Star Road.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **What secrets await our heroes in the Star Shrine? Will we ever find out what the real truth behind the Cobalt Star is? Please review.  
**


	16. A Test of Happiness

**This took me a while, but I finally finished this chapter! I also decided to make some changes in my profile so that you could catch a glimpse of how my future _Mario & Luigi _remakes will be named. ;)**

 **Anyways, enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 16: A Test of Happiness**

The heroes walked on the Star Road and reached the Gateway to the Star Shrine. This Gateway was composed by many colorful buildings connected by the main chamber through roads made of Star Dust. Above the buildings were large yellow star platforms just like the main chamber. The heroes arrived at the main chamber and they spotted a closed gate shaped like a star up ahead.

"That over there is the gate leading to the Shrine as I told you early." Veronica told.

"Man…that is the most starry-looking door I have ever seen." Sonic said. "Also, no pun intended."

"You don't say?" Young Sonic questioned sarcastically as they walked straight to the door.

As soon as they were close enough, the gate suddenly grew eyes and a mouth.

"Whoa! The gate is alive?" Luigi said surprised.

"Yep. It has a mind of its own; it is the one who decides who will pass and who won't." Veronica explained.

"Golly…"

"Pilgrims and wanderers… What is it you seek in this sanctified place?" the Star Gate spoke. "Beyond this gate lies the sacred castle of our ruler, the keeper of light. Those judged unworthy or without purpose will not be allowed to enter."

"We're here so that-…"

"Stop." The Star Gate interrupted Mario. "No words of explanation will be necessary. All that I require is an appraisal of your worth. Such is the entry key."

"Huh?" the four adult boys raised an eyebrow.

"I will analyze all of you one by one to see if you're worthy enough to pass. Stand before me. Speak no words. Open your hearts."

The heroes nodded and stood before the Star Gate, who closed its eyes and began to analyze one by one, starting with Mario: "Red man of mustache… You are true and courageous. Your heart is filled with virtue and concern for your brother. I do recommend you watch your diet, however, for it is also filled with much alfredo sauce. You should especially cut down on carbonara, though it will be hard, for that is very tasty. If you curb your appetite, do some light cardio work, and continue to ward your brother. You will no doubt grow to be a figure of immense popularity, yet not grow an immense belly. I deem you most worthy to pass this gate, and recommend puttanesca; that stuff is great."

"All right." Mario nodded.

"Gee, who would expect that someone commented on your overweight?" Sonic smirked. "And isn't it ironic that it said about Italian food?"

"Sheesh, it's not my fault for that; that stuff that I eat taste good, you know." Mario rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of which…" the Star Gate looked at Sonic. "Royal blue hedgehog… You are a snarky speedy hedgehog who is addicted to action. You always love to keep moving, not even wanting to stop, and like red man of mustache, your heart is also filled with virtue and concern for your fox friend. On the other side, you seem to keep your weight balanced thanks to calorie burning for those chilidogs you eat by running every day. However, I recommend being careful to not exaggerate yourself with your cocky attitude; doing things without patience can be very risky sometimes. I can also see that you have aquaphobia, but as long as you can outrun the water, that's not as bad as it sounds. So try to think more about what exactly you're doing before going into action. But gosh, I wouldn't let you pass if it wasn't for your sense of humor. Your funny jokes make everyone laugh. So you're also worthy to pass, and make sure you keep up with your good jokes; they're hilarious."

"Heh, you got it!" Sonic winked while giving thumbs up.

"Now it's your turn…" the Star Gate looked at Tails. "Ah… Yellow twin-tailed fox… You are a kind-hearted and optimistic fellow who loves inventions and helping your friends. You are also very loyal to the blue hedgehog, treating each other like real brothers. You always dream of flying high and trying your best to be just like your best friend ever since you first met. What I would recommend is to not get yourself into too much trouble; your best friend is very overprotective for you, and he would always blame himself if he fails to protect you. Remember, your best friend will never forgive himself if this does happen. Because of that, you're pretty much treated like a simple sidekick, who just loves to go along on adventures, assist the others and even suffers from astraphobia. So be strong, and you'll be as popular as your best friend. Since I'll be giving you another chance, you are free to go too."

"Really? Thanks!" Tails beamed.

"And who do we have here?" the Star Gate noticed Veronica. "Oh, Veronica! It's been forever since you were born. Because she's already a close relevant to the stars, she's free to pass." The Star Gate next looked at the kids. "As for the little ones, I know their hearts are innocent, so they may pass unhindered."

"Yay! Thank you!" Young Tails chirped.

"And now…you." The Star Gate looked at Luigi, who was curious to know what it will say to him. "Green man of mustache… You… Um…good luck out there."

"What?" everyone except Luigi tilted their heads in confusion.

"Wait, what are you talking about?! Please tell me!" Luigi begged.

"What's that? You crave more?" the Star Gate asked. Luigi immediately nodded. "I could be more direct, but everyone would hear. Are you sure you wish for this to be? The secrets of your heart would be revealed. That odd…incident. And that other thing as well."

"Oh, no way!" Luigi shook his head.

"Then I shall whisper…"

Luigi then walked to the Star Gate and it whispers some things to him that the others could only interpret by the man in green's reactions:

"Uh-huh… Oh… Okay… Wait… Huh?!... What?!... Seriously?... No!... No way!... That can't be true!" his jaw dropped at what the Star Gate said to him.

"I'm getting a feeling that the gate just told bad things to him." Tails stated.

Once the Star Gate finished, Luigi walked back to the group while crestfallen, which got Tails worried.

"Uh, how was it?" he asked.

"Terrible." Luigi replied saddened.

The Star Gate turned its attention to the heroes and said:

"This means that most of you are worthy of admittance. However, the green man of mustache is questionable. His heart is muddled with…certain questionable things."

"WHAT?!" the group gasped.

"Who knows what trials the road ahead may bring? You may found yourselves tested like never before. Yet, the green man of mustache weeps and worries like a child, fearful. It is…embarrassing. I cannot allow one who so bemoans his fate to pass through the gate and meet the princess. It is most unfortunate, but you may not proceed."

Shocked, the Mario Brothers began babbling at the same time to reason with the Star Gate, until it interrupted them:

"Please calm yourselves. I will summarize your position if you are calm." The brothers then calmed down and listened to the Star Gate as it continues: "There are…three options open to you at this time."

"Seriously?" both Mario and Luigi replied in surprise.

"The first is to give up and return home to a dinner of healthy pasta puttanesca. The second is to leave the green man of mustache behind and proceed without him. The third is to summon and strike the Aurora Block, whatever how you do it. Which of these three roads you choose to follow is up to you. Your hearts are your guides. By your looks, you might be wondering: what is this ominous Aurora Block? Prepare for enlightenment. It's a rare block. Its presence has long been celebrated by denizens of the Star Realm. That is an important thing, for if you are able to summon the Aurora Block and strike it… I will acknowledge the green man of mustache's courage and cooperative spirit. Then your entire company shall be judged worthy and allowed free passage into the realm. Fare you well." The Star Gate's eyes and mouth disappears.

"Well, you're all thinking what I'm thinking, right?" Tails asked.

"Yes! We're going to find a way to summon the Aurora Block so that Luigi could pass too!" Mario said. "As you would know, I'll never leave my brother behind no matter what."

"I knew you would say that! That actually made me feel better." Luigi smiled.

"Veronica, do you have any clues about the Aurora Block?" Sonic asked her.

"I'm not sure, but we might find some clues by just exploring around the Gateway." Veronica answered. "You all noticed there are multiple paths for us, right? We should go there and see!"

They all nodded and split up: the Marios went to the upper-left area, the Luigis went to the bottom-left one, the Sonics went to the bottom-right one, the Tailses went to the upper-right one, and Veronica went to the upper one by herself.

* * *

 _ **With Mario and his younger self…**_

The area they were in had an orange-checkered pattern, orange, pink and purple platforms and wide gaps. Above them, there was a large star platform.

"I still can't believe that the Star Gate refused to let Luigi pass. But even that, I don't care what it just said; we're going to summon that Aurora Block." Mario said to himself with determination, unknown that Baby Mario was listening.

"You must really care for him, right?" he guessed.

"Of course! I never in my life left him alone. But even if we're separated, we're still complete."

"I can see that!"

They stumbled upon Wonder Thwacks and a Piranha Planet before hopping on the transparent colorful platforms. They then came upon the wide gaps and saw a blue pipe at the other side.

"Those gaps are way too wide for a normal jump…" Mario pointed out.

"But not for a Spin Jump!" Baby Mario exclaimed.

"That's right! You're a genius! Stay in front of me; I'm about to do a Spin Jump by myself and ram into you."

Mario and Baby Mario used the Baby Spin ability to reach the other side and went into the pipe, taking them to the large star platform above. There was nothing but the same enemies plus a Skellokey patrolling it, except there were two sets of orbs placed at the bottom-right corner of the edge. The Marios went next to the edge and saw an ivory block with a deep pink star in it hovering above their heads. It was a Laser Block.

Mario decided to hit it, and eventually, the two orbs sent out a red laser and a magenta laser. Both lasers seemed incomplete, though, since they were too short.

"I think we're done for now. Let's head back into the pipe." Mario said and they both went in.

* * *

 _ **With Luigi and his younger self…**_

The area they were in had sets of short orange-tinted platforms with star patterns. Handfakes and Fly Guys are the enemies patrolling this area.

"Aw, you don't have to feel so down. All we have to do is to make that block appear and you're in with us!" Baby Luigi tried to cheer his older self up.

"I know, but I still feel bad about what the Star Gate told me…" Luigi lamented.

"What exactly did it tell you?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Baby Luigi nodded. Luigi then told everything the Star Gate told him, and this made Baby Luigi gasp in shock:

"Golly! That's horrible!"

"Yeah, I know and… WATCH OUT!" Luigi dragged his younger self out of the way because the Fly Guy dropped a bomb at where the Luigis used to be. "That was close…"

"I can see a blue warp pipe up there!" Baby Luigi pointed.

"Really? Then we should go there!"

The Luigis hopped on the platforms until they reached the purple one where the blue pipe was. They went in, and arrived on another large star platform. This one had a bright green structure with a star-shaped opening on both sides that were a bit too high. And just like the previous star platform, this one also had two orbs at the edge, but they were placed on the upper-right corner.

"That opening is too high to reach… I guess I'll have to toss you up there." Luigi told his younger self.

"That place looks dark… I don't like dark places…" Baby Luigi shuddered.

"Well, there is an Adult Shine Block here, so I'll light the area inside."

"Okey."

Luigi then did a Baby Toss to send Baby Luigi to the entrance. Once his infant self was inside, Luigi hit the Adult Shine Block, and a Small Shine Block showed up above Baby Luigi. He hit it, and the whole room lit up.

"That's much better!" Baby Luigi exclaimed.

He navigated around the room until he reached the exit, where he found a Laser Block waiting for him outside. Once hit, the two orbs sent out a green laser and a yellow laser, both still incomplete.

* * *

 _ **With Sonic and his younger self…**_

The area they were in was a mirrored version of the area both Luigis went to, except that, the layout of the platforms were different.

"How come that Star Gate rejected Luigi? He seemed like a big jerk for me." Sonic said in a sternly tone.

"I agree with you, me. What if it was just wasting our time?" Young Sonic threw in.

"Well, we can't be sure for that right now, so let's just focus on obtaining the Aurora Block so that we could get the Cobalt Shard."

The Sonics hopped on the platforms until they reached the blue pipe above. They were now on another large star platform, but they had to first fight against a Piranha Planet before they could reach the Laser Block.

Once it was beaten, the adult Sonic ran under the Laser Block and hit it, and the two orbs sent out a blue laser and a magenta laser. With another magenta laser present, the lasers from each opposite side jointed together into a long straight magenta laser.

* * *

 _ **With Tails and his younger self…**_

The area they were in was a mirrored version of the area both Marios went to, but once again, the layout of the platforms were different.

"Was the Star Gate lying or something? I knew Luigi for a long time ever since we were kids! Luigi might be a scaredy cat, but not all the time!" Tails growled under his breath.

"You don't have to be so mad, me. Maybe once we summon the Aurora Block, the Star Gate will let Luigi pass." Young Tails said in a soft tone.

" ***sigh*** alright."

"There's a pipe right above, but it's too high. Could lend me a hand just like you did when we were inside Yoob?"

"Sure, hold on."

Tails grabbed Young Tails' hands and flew with him all the way up to the top of the purple platform where the blue pipe was. The large star platform they were on had another green structure that only Young Tails could enter since the entrance was very small, plus a single purple exclamation point block next to the structure.

"Wait, before you head in, let me hit this block first." Tails told him and hit the purple block. With that, the twelve stars printed on the floor showed a pattern: the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth and eleventh stars were lit, while the rest weren't. "Hey! Younger me! Remember this pattern! It might do something!"

"Okay!" Young Tails nodded and memorized the star patterns before going inside the structure. Inside, he saw twelve blocks positioned in the same way as the printed stars, and when Young Tails hit one of them, it would lit up. "That's it! I'll strike the blocks that correspond to the star pattern I just saw earlier!" he concluded.

With that, he hit the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth and eleventh blocks to light them up, leaving the other ones unlit. Eventually, a Laser Block showed up at the outside above Tails' head. He hits it and the two orbs sent out a red laser and a yellow laser. Both lasers from opposite sides jointed together. Now the only lasers remaining to joint were the green and blue lasers.

* * *

 _ **With Veronica…**_

She flew by a large star chamber with clear green fences decorated with stars and light blue star columns, and found a blue pipe at the end of another large star-shaped chamber, taking her to the final large star platform at the upper part of the area.

There were clear glass pipes on the star platform and Wonder Thwacks patrolling it.

"I'll make sure they won't get in my way so that I can hit that Laser Block." Veronica said as she froze the Wonder Thwacks in place. "I can see that everybody else has finished most of the lasers, so that only leaves my turn it seems." She spoke to herself as she hit the Laser Block.

Eventually, the two orbs at the edge sent out a green laser and a blue laser. With all of the lasers jointed, something began to materialize in the middle. It glowed in a rainbow color before finally revealing the object: it was a block sharing the same colors as the lasers.

"It's the Aurora Block!" Veronica exclaimed as the block flew back to the Star Gate's chamber. "I better warn this to everyone!"

* * *

Later, once Veronica regrouped everyone to the Star Gate, they saw the Aurora Block hovering at the chamber's middle. The Star Gate grew eyes and a mouth again and spoke:

"Yes, that is it. Impressive. That is the Aurora Block. You have done well to summon it. Now, green man of mustache. Strike the block so that I may witness your deed and deem you worthy despite your flaws."

Luigi nodded and he went under the block to strike it. But suddenly, just as his fist was reaching the block, it moved away from him on its own, causing big question marks to appear above everyone's heads.

"What the-?" Luigi's eyes widened as he walked after the block and attempted to strike it again, but the same thing happened and it moved away again. "Okay, what?" he was confused; why was the Aurora Block moving away?

"No. No. No. That will not do." The Star Gate said in a serious tone. "Your insincerity sickens me. Approach me this instant." Luigi did a small gulp as he walked towards the Star Gate. "Are you listening to me, green man of mustache? For you should listen well. It was not due to your efforts alone that the block was brought here, was it? Who is responsible for this achievement? Hm? Who is it that made this possible? Was it your friends? The kids? Or was it you?" it asked while glaring at him.

"Uh…" Luigi thought long and hard on this. "M-My friends…?" he answered nervously.

"LIAR!" the Star Gate suddenly yelled at him, causing him to jump in surprise. "The correct answer is EVERYONE! What else could it be? Hmph. How could you fail to know the correct answer? It is inconceivable to me. It is deplorable."

"B-But you didn't even mention this option!" Luigi protested.

"YOU LIE!" the Star Gate yelled at him again. "It is this very tendency to falsify and edit facts that gets you in trouble. Surely you realize your progress is a testament to teamwork? That it is a group effort? I know you do, and yet you refuse to pick the correct answer! And then you lie! I am appalled."

"Oh, come on…" Luigi lamented.

"If you continue thusly…YOUR FATE IS SEALED. You shall spend your days in loneliness. Mark my words!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHY?!" Luigi kneeled on the floor and bursts into tears.

The rest of the group became so heartbroken by those harsh words the Star Gate said to Luigi that they glared at the gate furiously.

"Spending his days in loneliness?! THAT'S SO HURTFUL!" Tails yelled in anger.

"How could you say those things to my own brother?!" Mario growled. "He's the one telling the truth. You're the one who's lying."

"I beg your pardon? You imply that I am lying?" the Star Gate questioned.

"You are! Luigi has done nothing wrong! Just because he's a coward doesn't mean he acts like that all the time! Plus, he saved me from a haunted mansion once by himself!"

"You're wrong. He needed help from a certain professor in order to rescue you. He didn't do it by himself."

"Well that's because he relies on his friends in order to feel safe and strong!" Sonic explained while angered.

"This is true. None of our lives is complete without the assist from our friends. Everyone needs to have trustful friends to stay safe and strong." Veronica agreed while crossing her arms.

"And this is for upsetting older me!" Baby Luigi stormed as he walks towards the Star Gate's left door while bringing out his hammer and whacks it with all of his strength; he was very angry.

"So you're saying that Luigi has done nothing wrong and that he feels safe and strong when his friends are close?" the Star Gate asked.

"YEAH!" the group shouted.

"Incredible…" just then, the Star Gate closed its eyes and had some tears falling down. "All of you… You are truly…AMAZING." A big smile showed on its face.

"HUH?!" the group shouted in shock with their eyes widened.

"You all care for him so much." The Star Gate replied with a soft tone, confusing the group. It then calls Luigi: "Come, green man of mustache, you need weep no more. Rise and face me. This was all merely a test of my devising."

"What…?" Luigi wiped off his tears and stood up.

"Everyone… For the sake of your good friend, you went to summon the Aurora Block. You endured hardships and supported red man of mustache's sibling. Your feelings for green man of mustache are genuine. What grand friends you are to him. I am quite moved."

Everyone smiled, looking at Luigi, who smiled softly at all of his friends. In addition, what made him smile more was that he saw Baby Luigi hugging on his leg.

"Green man of mustache…" the Star Gate continued. "For all that I have forced you to endure, forgive me. You see, I know the truth. Your heart is like a gemstone; multi-faceted and beautiful. I see how it sparkles. There are places that need polishing, but you are vital to your companions. After all, that's what Veronica said about having friends at your side. You must march bravely on. You have my undying support."

"Okey, I'll do it." Luigi nodded.

"You may all pass. I will not hinder you."

"All right!" the whole group cheered.

"Now, green man of mustache… Please strike the block with all of your new-found grace."

Luigi walked under the Aurora Block again and this time, he succeeded in hitting it.

"Yes. A fine jump." The Star Gate commented. "Oh, and by the way, the Aurora Block… It can alter its shape to match the size of the heart of the one who strikes it."

"Wait wha-?" but before Luigi was able to finish, the only thing he remember seeing was that he was suddenly crushed by the Aurora Block that just became HUGE.

"Luigi!" Mario cried out.

Once the huge Aurora Block rose up, it revealed that Luigi was now flat as a pancake.

"Whoa…" Sonic's eyes widened.

"O—kay?" Tails blinked.

"Hahahahahaha!" the babies laughed.

"I got a Pancake Luigi!" Baby Mario picked up the crushed Luigi.

"Well, without further delay, let the gate be opened. Up ahead is our highness's castle. She should be waiting for you inside. May the road ahead bring you all much happiness." The Star Gate finished as it became lifeless before opening up its doors.

"Remind me to not trust talking star gates ever again..." Sonic sweatdropped as his younger self nodded in agreement.

Veronica used her Reversing Time magic on Luigi to revert him back to his normal state. She then asked the group: "Ready to meet the princess's castle?" they all nodded. "All right, let's go."

They followed Veronica to the set of star-shaped steps leading to the Shrine's entrance.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Just like what I did with Yoob's Belly, I made everyone split up in order to summon the Aurora Block. And speaking of that, I decided to make that part where you had to connect the colorful lasers to reveal the entrance of the Star Shrine as how to obtain the Aurora Block so that my story makes much more sense.  
**

 **Also, remember back at chapter 10 where I told about another song that beats Gritzy Desert's song? That song is this one: the Star Shrine's theme! It is my favorite song from this game. I just love listening to it because of how magical it sounds. But I think this song fits more at the next part of the area that is about to show up in the next chapter. :)**

 **Just to let you know, the princess of the Star Realm is another OC who was already seen in one of my near recent stories. Until the next chapter! Please review.**


	17. A second Princess Shroob?

**This is actually the second time when two of my OCs show up in the same story!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 17: A second Princess Shroob?**

At the top of the star-shaped staircase, there was a large castle with tall towers up ahead. The heroes glanced at the beauty this castle had: walls that looked like they were made of pure light blue glass with glittering stars printed on, deep pink rooftops with blue flags depicting a white star printed on them, and the many windows and the double doors leading to the shrine's entrance were all made of transparent glass.

"Now THIS is what I call a magical castle!" Sonic exclaimed.

"I can't say if I like this castle more than Peach's Castle…" Mario scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Man! If it's stunning from the outside, imagine on the inside!" Tails beamed.

"You're right! I bet it'll be even prettier!" Young Tails chirped.

Veronica flew to the double doors and called out:

"The doors seems to be opened. So we can go inside with no problems."

The heroes wasted no time and went inside the Shrine. And as expected, the inside was totally stunning: the walls were light blue with some star stained glass hung on, columns of glass with bubbles flowing inside, and the floor was made of light-blue glass with glittering stars printed on it.

"This place is even prettier now!" Baby Mario beamed.

"Yeah, it is very pretty." Veronica smiled. "The Cobalt Star energy is stronger… I believe the princess should be just up ahead."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry and get that shard!" Young Sonic said.

They all nodded and went onward. After passing by another room where a Piranha Planet was roaming around, they reached a wide-open chamber, where they spotted someone up ahead. It looked like the figure of a woman, with her back turned.

"Is that her…?" Baby Luigi asked silently.

"Yes, that's her." Veronica nodded as everyone walked closer to the princess.

She then turned around to reveal her face: the appearance of a woman in her early 20's sharing the same height as Rosalina. She had a delicate oval face with brown eyes with purple eyeshadow and light-purple lips, and her face made her look like she was a very innocent person. She has short straight black hair that reached under her neck, and her outfit is a flowing, deep pink strapless gown with a black tulle decorated with silver sparkles. Her hot pink belt had two pink ribbons attached to both sides of her waist and there was a metallic pink rose brooch with silver leaves decorating the left side of her chest. She wore dark pink high heels on her feet, long white evening gloves beyond elbow-length on her arms, and a platinum crown decorated with black pearls was donning her head. Finally, on her ears, black pearl earrings matching the black pearls on her crown.

The male heroes looked at her in awe, because of how beautiful she looks. She smiled at the heroes as she speaks in a soft tone:

"Welcome to the Star Shrine, dear heroes." She bowed. "My name is Melissa, princess of the Star Realm. I watch over the balance of the stars in the sky and grant wishes. I'm quite impressed at how you managed to come all the way here into my realm. That proves you're indeed the ones destined to become the heroes of this land. I pray that you'll save this kingdom and free it from the Shroobs."

As she speaks the last sentence, Melissa creates a pink light orb of light by positioning her hands scoop-like, and a Cobalt Shard showed up once the orb faded.

"Because I have so much faith in you, I shall give you this Cobalt Shard." She finished as she hands the Cobalt Shard to Mario.

"Thank you so much, Melissa." He thanked.

"You're welcome." Melissa nodded. "Now if you excuse me, I have some things to do. Feel free to explore my castle as much as you want. You can go anywhere except my room." She leaves as the star-shaped door with a keyhole opened up and she went through.

"Well, that leaves us with four Cobalt Shards now." Tails said. "Only two more remaining."

"Didn't you guys thought it was weird that Melissa told us to go anywhere except her room?" Luigi thought out loud suspiciously.

"Who cares? We can at least leave this place now." Sonic shrugged.

"INCOMING!" suddenly, they heard a female voice coming from their left.

The heroes turned to the left, only to see a pink shell and a pink spiked ball launching towards them.

"WHOA!" they flinched as they quickly got out of the way.

Once the pink objects landed with a loud 'thud', they revealed themselves as Amy and Kylie!

"Amy? Kylie? What are you doing here?" Sonic asked.

"Boy oh boy! I've been shaking the BUSHES for you boys!" Kylie exclaimed. "Open them ears and listen to this! For once, it ain't got a thing to do with scoops! Get this: I stumbled onto something so big, it's even BIGGER than big! It started when I fell outta that mother ship while it was flying over Yoshi's Island… Yeah, see, what happened was, I bounced right off Amy's head!"

"Yep…" Amy stepped forward. "She landed right on me. And that's when it happened! All of it… My… My… MY MEMORY CAME BACK!"

"Really?!" the heroes exclaimed in surprise.

Amy then pulled out a neon green upside down shard from her pocket. "I was holding on to this in secret… It's a Cobalt Shard… And this part is linked to the Star's middle!" she smiled. "If you find all of the Cobalt Shards, you'll be able to save the kingdom… That's what you all believe, isn't it?" the heroes nodded. "But… But… Even if you restore the Cobalt Star… Defeating the Shroobs will…STILL BE IMPOSSIBLE!"

"WHAT?!" the heroes shouted in shock.

"You plan on scooping up all the shards, right, whiskers?" Kylie guessed.

"That's right!" Sonic responded. "We already got four shards with us!" he shows the incomplete Cobalt Star with its four shards.

"No! Don't!" Amy protested.

"Huh?" everyone except Veronica, Baby Luigi and Amy raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"DOOOOOOON'T!" Amy shrieked and she runs away.

"Hold up!" Kylie follows her.

The heroes were left speechless, until Young Sonic broke the silence:

"Well… That was weird."

"Why did Amy panic when we mentioned the Cobalt Star?" Tails asked in confusion.

"That's a good question…" Luigi scratched his head.

Suddenly, the Cobalt Star started to shake and flew into the air in circles.

"Wait, what's with the Cobalt Star?" Mario questioned.

"I think… I think the Cobalt Star is attempting to communicate with us…" Stuffwell guessed. "I, of course, am programmed for translatification…" he then translates for the heroes: "Ahead… Ahead… Something ahead… A strong power beckons… Hurry… Hurry…"

To everyone's surprise, the Cobalt Star flew to the next room by its own!

"…Did the Cobalt Star just flew on its own?" Baby Mario didn't expect that.

"Sounds like we're on the correct pathway." Stuffwell said. "BACK TO ADVENTURE!"

"Hurry! Let's chase after the Cobalt Star!" Mario demanded.

The rest nodded and went to the next room. This room had deep pink platforms. To get to the top, it was required to do the Baby Cakes ability to pass through some small openings on the far left wall with many air vents. The end of the maze of narrow paths led the infants to a closed star-shaped gate where they used Baby Drill to dig and pass under the gate.

Inside, they found a button. Baby Mario hit it with his hammer, causing a green platform to emerge out next to the deep pink platforms. They hopped on the platforms and reached another room. There, all they had to do was to press a switch on the floor to open the next star-shaped door with a keyhole. This room actually leads to Princess Melissa's room.

"YOIKS!" they suddenly heard Kylie's scream from Melissa's room.

"Was that Kylie?" Young Tails asked.

"Uh oh! They might be in trouble!" Tails said in horror as they rushed into Melissa's room.

* * *

Inside, they found Amy and Kylie knocked down on the ground, unconscious.

"Amy! Kylie!" the group cried out as they went to the girls.

"Please tell us you're okay!" Luigi pleaded with worry.

"M-M-Monster…" Kylie moaned. "D-D-Danger… The…Cobalt…Star…"

"Eh?" Luigi raised an eyebrow.

"Guys…" Amy spoke slowly. "My… My sketch…"

"Your sketch…? You mean this one we have?" Mario asked as he took out the sketch that Amy had given to them back at Yoshi's Island.

"Yes… The sketch I drew… The answer is there... The…hidden…answer… Rub…the sketch… The dust… Rub it…"

Mario did as she told and rubbed off all of the dirt covering the sketch. And what was hidden under the dust? It showed another Princess Shroob on the lower-right corner, and the identity of the mysterious woman shown on the lower-left corner that was using the Cobalt Star showed someone that was identical to Veronica!

"What in the world…?!" Mario's eyes widened at what he saw in the sketch.

"M-Mario… What you see…there…is…"

"What's going on down there?" Before Amy could finish her sentence, they heard Melissa's voice coming from above.

When she noticed that the heroes were in her room, she first became shocked before going into an angry expression.

"NO WAY! How did you manage to come all the way here?!" she yelled in unbelief. "For trespassing into my domain, YOU SHALL BE DESTROYED!"

Suddenly, Melissa started to morph into a strange red figure. Eventually, it was revealed as a red Shroob with yellow spots and spikes on top of its head. That was the Elder Shrooboid. Upon reverting, the Elder Shrooboid did a loud roar:

 ***ROOOOOAAAAR!***

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Sonic flinched.

"Oh no… That's the elder of all the Shroobs! The Elder Shrooboid! Also the strongest of all the Shrooboids!" Veronica told them.

Just then, two purple lightning bolts came out of nowhere and they struck Kylie and Amy, turning them into Shroob Mushrooms!

"KYLIE! AMY!" the heroes gasped in horror.

The Elder Shrooboid did another roar and the heroes glared at it while doing their fighting stances.

"Guess we have no choice. Let's take it on!" Young Sonic said.

The Elder Shrooboid took out yellow crystals and trapped everyone inside. The heroes struggled to break free as Elder Shrooboid came back with a wrecking ball. Thankfully, the heroes were able to break out from the crystals before they could get hit by the wrecking ball.

The Elder Shrooboid roared in frustration by that and kicks the wrecking ball at Luigi, but he jumped high enough to avoid the attack.

"Time to get this party started!" Sonic smirked as he Home Attacks the Elder Shrooboid, followed by Young Sonic's Spin Dash.

The Elder Shrooboid did another roar and spits fireballs at the heroes, but they dodged them. To prevent the Elder Shrooboid for spitting more fireballs, both Tailses equipped their arm cannons and shot plasma beams into the elder's mouth.

"Guys! If it's shooting fire, then that means it is weak to ice!" Veronica concluded.

"That's it! Ice Flower!" Mario pulls out the Ice Flower and he, Luigi and the babies absorbed it, changing into their Ice forms.

They charged their ice balls before shooting them at the Elder Shrooboid, freezing it in a block of ice. But then, it managed to break out by spitting another fireball from its mouth.

"What?!" Mario wasn't expecting that.

"It broke free! How?!" Luigi questioned in unbelief.

"I think the plasma from our arm cannons wasn't enough to block its flame pipe." Tails guessed.

"Watch out!" Veronica warned when the Elder Shrooboid threw a massive spiked iron ball that circled around the heroes. Luckily, Baby Mario knocked the iron ball back at the elder with his hammer, and the elder was now lying on his face to the ground.

"Now we can jump on it with no problems!" Baby Mario exclaimed.

The bros did their jump attacks at the downed Elder Shrooboid. After this attack, the elder stopped moving.

"That was it? Lame…" Sonic rolled his eyes.

But when everyone thought it was over, all of a sudden, the Elder Shrooboid got up and started to glow…becoming bigger.

"MAMA MIA!" the adult and baby Mario Brothers shouted in shock.

"It got huge!" Young Sonic's eyes widened.

But that's not all: the Elder Shrooboid spat out a Shroob Saucer and it showed a sign with the number 4 on it before dropping to 3.

"CRAP! Not this again!" Sonic flinched.

The Elder Shrooboid stomped towards both Sonics, who countered back as many time as they could by doing their Spin Charges, giving a chance for Baby Mario to whack the elder with his hammer, sending it back a few feet. The Elder Shrooboid quickly got on his feet before the brothers even attempted to stomp it, and it sent out another spiked iron ball, but this one was huge, and it once again was circling around the heroes. Baby Luigi managed to hit the iron ball with his hammer, sending it towards the Shroob Saucer, and it slammed down on the elder, causing it to lie on the floor again.

"Let's defeat it with our jumps while it's on the ground!" Baby Mario said.

"But we need enough strength so that we could defeat it with just jumps." Mario stated. "After all, it is now bigger than it was before."

Then, they heard a faint voice:

"Mario…brothers…"

"Is that Melissa's voice?" Luigi asked.

Indeed he was right; another Melissa came in while crawling on the ground, looking quite tired.

"I am the real Princess Melissa…" Melissa spoke. "The Elder Shrooboid has beaten me and disguised as me so that it could snatch the Cobalt Shards…"

" _I knew that fake Melissa was suspicious…_ " Luigi thought.

"As weak as I am now, I'm still able to help you. I shall use my power to give you an item that will defeat the Elder Shrooboid."

Melissa then stands up and creates a pink orb of light on her left palm and a deep pink flower showed up. But that flower was odd looking: it had two heads instead of one, but the heads have the same appearance of the Fire and Ice variations of the flower.

"What's that?" Mario asked as he takes the two-headed flower. "I've never seen this type of Power Up before."

"It's a Copy Flower. When you absorb it, it will split you into multiple copies of yourself." Melissa explained.

"Sweet! Let's use that to our advantage!" Baby Mario shoved his fist into the air.

The adult and baby brothers absorb the Copy Flower, and as expected, they were multiplied to massive numbers. Then, all of the clones ran and jumped one by one on the Elder Shrooboid's head. Once the Elder Shrooboid faced defeated, the clones vanished.

"THAT. WAS. AWESOME!" Young Sonic exclaimed.

"It sure was! Thanks for helping them, Melissa." Veronica thanked.

"It is my pleasure." Melissa bowed.

"Hey, look! The Elder Shrooboid is dissolving into something!" Tails pointed.

They watched the Elder Shrooboid dissolve and the neon upside down star showed up. It was the middle piece of the Cobalt Star that Amy had with her!

"All right! We have five Cobalt Shards now!" Young Tails cheered as he took the shard.

"And just in time! The spirit told us that this shard will allow us to break the barrier of Peach's Castle!" Sonic added.

"That is the shard that was in Amy's possession, if I'm not mistaken." Stuffwell said. "I presume that monster disguised as Melissa attacked them hoping to take it for its own." He walks towards the Shroobified Kylie and Amy.

"I just hope we can get them back to normal…" Baby Luigi whimpered.

"Poor Amy… Poor Kylie… This is a travesty… I suppose there's nothing we can do for them now." Stuffwell lamented. "But hold on, where did the rest of the Cobalt Star go blastering off to?"

Just then, the incomplete Cobalt Star came back.

"There it is!" Young Tails chirped.

"Oh, happies! What a relief to see it return unharmed!" Stuffwell replied in relief.

Young Tails then inserts the middle piece of the Cobalt Star on it. Now the Cobalt Star is missing just its upper-left point. Stuffwell then puts away the Cobalt Star into him. "BACK TO ADVENTURE!"

"So if we rescue Princess Peach and defeat the Shroobs… We may be able to restore Amy and Kylie back!" Sonic confirmed.

"That could be a possibility." Melissa said.

"Hmm, now that you mentioned it..." Mario takes out Amy's sketch and looks at it again. "Guys, by any chance, have you seen this?" he shows the complete sketch to everyone, which made their eyes widen.

"Is that another Princess Shroob?" Luigi asked.

"And that woman looks like Veronica!" Tails pointed out. He then looked at Veronica. "Veronica, was it you who was fighting against both Princess Shroobs?"

"I… Well…" Veronica hesitated for a bit, but then she admitted: " ***sigh*** yes. I was the one who was fighting the Shroob Princesses."

"And you lost the battle? That's horrible…"

"Hold up! If it was Veronica who battled against them, then why did the Shroobs take Peach instead?" Mario questioned.

"Yet another missing puzzle piece remaining…" Sonic sweatdropped.

"Not quite." Veronica shook her head. "The reason they took Peach…is because she was the one who summoned me from Hollijolli Village so that I could battle them and protect her. As revenge, they kidnapped her and planned to take over the Mushroom Kingdom."

"So that's where it all began…" Luigi pondered.

"Well, we should leave this place. You guys want to head to Shroob Castle, right?" Veronica guessed. The boys nodded. "All right, then. We should be on our way."

"There is actually a Time Hole at the room up ahead. I'll open it for you." Melissa said as she walked towards the closer star-shaped door with a keyhole and made it open up for the heroes. "Now, this won't be the last time we'll meet. I'm sure about that. As the guardian of the stars, I shall watch over you." She smiled. "Have a safe journey!" she waved. The heroes waved back as they went through the door.

On the other room, there was indeed a Time Hole waiting for them at the middle. They nod to each other before jumping in.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **If you read my Super Paper Mario Dimensions story, you'll probably remember Melissa. In this Saga, she's the princess of the Star Realm, possibly replacing the Star Spirits from _Paper Mario_ (remember that the Paper Mario series takes place in a separate universe, as confirmed by _Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam_).  
**

 **And yeah! I decided to make Melissa the ruler of the Star Realm because the color of her dress matches the color of the platforms seen in the Star Shrine and coincidentally matches the color of the Copy Flower too! And don't worry; she'll appear again much later in this story.**

 **It's finally off to Shroob Castle! Until the next chapter! Please review.**


	18. Shroob Castle

**This story is about to end in two more chapters!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Shroob Castle**

After the ride in the Time Hole, the heroes emerged out in the castle's sewers. They went back to the throne room to meet up with E. Gadd.

"Oh! Welcome back, fellers!" E. Gadd greeted. "You've collected quite a few of the Cobalt Shards now, haven't you?"

"Yes, professor. We now have five in total." Tails told.

"Why, if that's the case… There's only one more to go!"

"Professor! We have data! About that Cobalt Star… It appears that one of its shards possesses the power to remove the barrier from the past castle!" Stuffwell informed.

"Hmm… How'd you come to that conclusion? I mean, unless the Cobalt Star itself told you…"

"It DID! The spirit of the star materialated before us and gave us that very information!"

"I see… Well, if you got it straight from the star's mouth, it's probably accurate."

"The end's in sight, guys! We'll think good thoughts until you're all safely back here!" Toad exclaimed.

"That's how you say it!" Sonic grinned.

"Alright, the Time Hole to Peach's Castle of the Past is on the third floor." Veronica said.

"Got it! Let's storm that castle!"

The heroes followed Veronica to the castle's third floor, where there were statues of Princess Peach surrounding the Time Hole. The group looked at each other with confidence before leaping in.

* * *

They were taken to the entrance of the now named Shroob Castle: it was all dark and gloomy with Shroob Mushrooms growing everywhere and an eerie purple glow was surrounding this area.

"Ooh… This place is too dark!" Baby Luigi shuddered as he buries his face on Luigi's shoulder.

"I actually didn't remember that your main fear before your phasmophobia was nyctophobia…" Mario admitted.

"Well, it was. It's still there, though, but a lot weaker than my phasmophobia." Luigi said.

"Oh, I see."

They noticed the front gate up ahead and went closer. They noticed that the entrance was blocked by two Shroob-like arms closing it.

"By hinges and handles! The Cobalt Star's reacting with extreme agitatification!" Stuffwell exclaimed and he opens up himself, releasing the Cobalt Star.

The Star flew towards the arms, and a bright glow surrounded it. Once the glow faded, the arms disintegrated and the front door opens. The Star flew back to Stuffwell and he stores it back inside.

"Stupendemous! Now we can gain access, if you follow. The Shroobs have certainly made this their stronghold. Loathing cycle activated. Remain alert and keep your eyeballs open, all of you! BACK TO ADVENTURE!"

"YEAH!" everyone…except Luigi cheered.

"Uh…" Luigi hesitated, but that caused everyone to stare at him.

"What did you just say?" Sonic glared.

"I…" Luigi gulped. He quickly changes his attitude and spoke with determination as he cleans his throat: "Ahem! I-I mean… Yes! Let's do it!"

"Oh, good."

"Hooray!" the four kids cheered.

They wasted no time and went inside.

* * *

In general, Shroob Castle is a Shroobified version of Peach's Castle, with its interior being the same as the original, only darker, with the Shroob emblem on the floor and carpets and more violet in coloration. There were also some Shroob Mushrooms attached to walls, the floor and ceilings, and blown up and damaged walls. The castle's sewers have also changed: it now looked more like a cellar with murky waters below and more Shroob Mushrooms were growing from the water's surface. The main enemies in patrol were Shroobsworths, Shroob Rexes and Soul Bubbles.

Once they reached the first floor, they had to once again connect lasers by some monitors just like they did it in Gritzy Desert to open the passage to the Koopaseum. They split up, went to each corner with their younger selves, and navigated into the corridors until they reached the monitors and waited for Veronica to give each of them the signals.

Once all of the lasers were activated, they activated an orb that just turned into a purple exclamation point block. They hit it and gained access to the castle's second floor.

* * *

There, as soon as they arrived at the catwalk, they were surprised by two Shroob Saucers who tried to shoot them with their blasts.

"I believe those saucers overhead are preventing our progression." Stuffwell informed. "I wonder if there's any way to chase them off… For the time being, let's look for an alternativated route!"

"Sounds like a good idea." Mario nodded.

They turned back and passed by what used to be the castle's library and found an opening on the brick walls and went through. Eventually, they managed to reach the dark staircase that would lead them to the Shroob Mother Ship at the top.

Once up there, they opened the door to the mother ship and went inside.

Just then, the door shut behind them, and the ship shook a little, startling the group. The mother ship was actually taking off to the skies, something that they least expected.

"Did the mother ship just begin to move all by itself?" Young Sonic asked.

"It appears to be so." Veronica confirmed.

"Wait… That gave me an idea!" Luigi snapped his fingers. "We could try to control this ship and send those Shroob Saucers to obliteration!"

"Of course! BRILLIANT!" Stuffwell exclaimed. "And all thanks to Luigi! Quite an accomplishment!" this left Luigi speechless. "Now as for the controls…" Stuffwell walked towards the control panel and a cable that looked like a SATA data cable came out from him and connected it to the panel. "Hmm… Of course…" an exclamation point showed up on his monitor. "I've got it!"

Stuffwell explained to them about how to control the mother ship. They used it to blast against the Shroob Saucers. They succeeded and the ship went back down. Now they were able to go further on the catwalks without any Saucer stopping them.

* * *

With that, they at last reached the third floor of the castle, where a statue of Princess Shroob was replacing the main tower. They solved a couple of puzzles in order to access the statue's interior.

Inside, they stumbled upon a monitor up ahead. But what was surprising is that there was someone rather familiar being shown on the monitor. It was Princess Peach! She was pacing back and forth while saddened and she wasn't wearing her crown on her head.

"Look! There she is!" Mario exclaimed.

Everyone tried calling for her, but she was unable to listen to them.

"Hmm… It appears that she can neither see nor hear us…" Veronica pondered.

"So what do we do?" Luigi asked.

"Come on, Peach! SAY SOMETHING!" Baby Mario whacks his hammer on the panel to try to call her attention.

"Hey, settle down, me!" Mario told him.

"Ah!" just then, Peach somehow was able to hear Mario's voice! "That voice! Is that Mario? He's come for me!"

"OH!" the heroes' eyes widened, before big smiles showed up on their faces.

"Peach! Can you actually hear us?!" Baby Mario exclaimed.

"Well! It is POSSIBLE the impact completed the circuit…" Stuffwell pointed out.

"Boys! Help me! I'm locked in a room all the way at the top of the statue!" Peach told them. "But… But how are you…"

All of a sudden, the transmission ended unexpectedly.

"Oh, god damn it! Why did it have to shut down?!" Sonic complained.

"The monitorization equipment seems destructified…" Stuffwell inspected.

"Oh no!" Luigi cried out.

"And yet we've learned that Princess Peach is safe." Stuffwell finished.

"I'm pretty sure that pipe over there might lead us to the upper level." Baby Mario pointed to a blue pipe at the left corner.

"All right! Come on, everyone!" Young Sonic exclaimed as they went down the pipe.

* * *

Unfortunately, a Chain Chomp was swimming around the murky waters of the pipeline and accidentally rammed into the pipe making a U-turn, and it moved to the upside down U-turn pipe, taking the heroes to the underground instead.

"What the-?! NO!" Mario shouted in shock. "We'll be taken to the sewers!"

"SAY WHAT?!" Sonic yelled in unbelief.

"WHOOOOOOOAAAAAA!" the heroes screamed as they went down the pipe.

 ***THUD!***

They landed on the ground hard.

"Owch…" Sonic groaned.

"Uh… Is this actually the sewers, Mario?" Tails looked around.

"Whoa… Even the sewers has changed?" Mario was surprised.

"Now this feels more like a cellar…" Luigi said.

"Well, being the sewers or a cellar, we have to find a way to get back up." Young Sonic stated.

"But how?" Baby Luigi asked.

"Maybe we should explore this place and search for clues." Young Tails suggested.

"Good idea. Let's go." Veronica said.

As they walked around the sewers, the first thing they were disgusted about were the murky waters. They solved more puzzles, and they were even harder than the ones in the castle's upper floors. Later on, they reached a dead end, until the same Chomp came out of the water and ate a purple exclamation point block and went inside one of the green pipes above. At the same time, four Laser Blocks showed up from the other green pipes.

"Looks like we'll have to take that Chomp down if we want to get out of the sewers." Mario stated.

They went to each of the Laser Blocks and hit them. Eventually, four lasers materialized and they blasted towards the Chain Chomp, defeating it and the block fell down to where it used to be. Finally, the heroes hit the block, and the spikes on the path to the exit retreated, allowing them to cross it to reach the blue pipe, taking them out of the sewers.

"FINALLY we're out of that murky place!" Sonic shouted.

"And it looks like we've reached another part of the castle's first floor." Veronica said. "I can see two more monitors that we'll have to activate."

They once again split up to activate the two monitors. After that, the lasers met into a blue orb and it became a blue pipe. The heroes went there and went inside this newly opened pipe.

Turns out that this pipe leads to another one, and that one was a shortcut leading to the upper part of the statue. Now, all they had to do was to make their way to the top so that they could finally find Peach.

When they were halfway to the top, Stuffwell came out from Mario's pocket and told everyone:

"My sensors are pinging! Yes, no doubt about it! The Cobalt Star's acting fully insanitized!" he lets the Cobalt Star free. "It's trying to tell us something… Let me interpret. 'Thank you all for everything you've done. Now we must part.' At least, that's what I BELIEVE it's saying."

"What?!" the heroes except Veronica were surprised.

Just then, the Cobalt Star flew towards Veronica, who backed away a bit.

"W-What do you want?" she was frightened.

"Hmm, let me see… 'You boys, please continue looking for Princess Peach. In the meanwhile, I and Veronica will try to ascertain the whereabouts of Princess Shroob.' That is the generalized gist." Stuffwell finished.

The Cobalt Star makes a blue aura appear around Veronica's body and drags her to the room up ahead.

"I can't move! What are you doing?!" she yelped as she was dragged into the next room.

"Veronica!" the boys cried out.

"And it's gone…with Veronica." Stuffwell sweatdropped.

"This is so strange; why did the Cobalt Star drag Veronica like that?" Tails questioned.

"Maybe it's because the Cobalt Star has something against her?" Baby Luigi guessed.

"No way! That's impossible! And…well… Ugh! This is so confusing!" Young Sonic grumbled.

"Yeah, my head is hurting just thinking about it." Luigi threw in.

"We can worry about Veronica later. For now, we must hurry and join up with the princess." Stuffwell stated.

"You're right." Mario nodded as they went on ahead. " _And maybe we can figure out the truth that Veronica kept hiding from us…_ " he thought.

Once they opened the final door, the group took a deep breath and went inside.

* * *

They emerged into a futuristic-looking chamber, and what was up ahead? Princess Peach! She was trapped inside a light blue ring barrier.

" ***gasp*** Mario! Luigi! Sonic! Tails!" Peach exclaimed in happiness.

"Peach!" the adult boys exclaimed back as they walked to the left side of the chamber and approached Peach.

"Thank you so much for coming all this way." Peach smiled. Then, she saw the younger versions of Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails walking towards her. "Oh!" her eyes widened in surprise.

"Hi, older Peach!" Baby Mario waved.

"Who are those adorable little tykes?" Peach wondered.

"Don't you recognize us, princess?" Young Sonic winked.

"Oh… Could you be? Why, you all are Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails, aren't you?" Peach guessed. The kids nodded. "Yes! The Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails of this past time period! So good to see you safe!"

"Hmm… How do we get rid of this barrier?" Baby Mario pondered. He then takes out his hammer. "That'll do it!" he whacks the barrier continuously.

"He and his hammer… All the time." Young Sonic rolled his eyes.

"This area's guarded by some mysterious Shroob energy field, I'm afraid..." Peach lamented. "It's not going to be easy to get around it."

"I… I guess you might be right." Baby Mario stops whacking the barrier.

"By the way, how did you manage to come this far? I thought the Shroobs put up a barrier around the castle entrance, too."

"Heh! It's all thanks to the Cobalt Star's middle shard that we were able to access!" Sonic grinned while rubbing his finger under his nose before snapping his fingers.

"What? The Cobalt Star?" Peach questioned.

"Yup!"

"No!" Peach suddenly shouted in horror as she backs away, leaving the heroes confused. "But that's… It can't… Could that…be…?" she murmured. She then let out a deep sigh and told: "Boys… You all must listen to me. I, um, you see… The Cobalt Star…"

 ***BOOOOOOM!***

Before Peach could explain, all of a sudden, a loud explosion came and the whole place shook, startling everyone. It turns out that the mother ship was attacking the heroes by blasting at the statue's exterior. The deck showed Princess Shroob commanding the ship for the attack.

" **)%*!"** she yelled. The mother ship continues to attack.

"Everyone!" Stuffwell called out. "We are in a dire predicament! We must stop the mother ship or this place will squishify!"

"That reminds me, I think there's a saucer port upstairs." Peach said. "Maybe you could do something if you find a way up there!"

"Great! Let's take a look!" Tails exclaimed. "If we can get a saucer, we still may be able to stop that mother ship!"

"But… What about you, Peach?" Baby Mario asked worriedly as he walks back to Peach.

"Hurry up, all of you!" Peach demanded. She then turns to Baby Mario. "And don't worry about me. I'll stay here and wish for your safe return."

"B-But… Peach…" Baby Mario whimpered; he really didn't want to leave Peach alone.

"Thank you… Baby Mario." Peach smiled softly at him.

"Okay… We'll be back for you, Peach. We promise." Baby Mario assured as he climbs on Mario's back for a piggyback.

"Everyone… Save the Mushroom Kingdom. I beg of you!"

"We'll do it!" Mario grinned while nodding.

"Yeah!" the rest of the heroes joined in.

With that, they left the room and made their way to the very top of the statue. Once they reached the Mushroom Cap of the statue, it appears that the interior was similar to the mother ship's interior.

"So the cap of the statue is a saucer? Cool!" Young Sonic grinned.

Eventually, the cap saucer rose up and was now flying in the air, reaching the same height as the mother ship. The heroes assumed their positions and were now ready to battle against the mother ship in classic space war style.

"Let's get this baby in action!" Sonic smirked.

The mother ship's weakness was its mushroom cap-shaped dome. So the heroes had to direct their saucer to the exact height of the dome before shooting. This airbone battle wasn't going to be that easy, though; the mother ship sent out Shroob Saucers for protection. Thankfully, the heroes could pierce through multiple Saucers with their saucer's blasts.

Once this intense battle was won for the heroes, they watched the mother ship stating to malfunction as it slowly descends down towards the statue, and it collided into the wall. The saucer returned to its proper place and the heroes hurried back outside.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **The final battles draw near... Until then! Please review.**


	19. Battling the Shroob Princesses

**Just one more chapter to end the second story of my Saga!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 19: Battling the Shroob Princesses  
**

The heroes began to make their way down the stairs to where the mother ship crashed. On their way, they ended up in the room where Peach was trapped, and to their surprise, the barrier around her has disappeared! The heroes went to her immediately.

"Oh, Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, thank you so!" Peach thanked. "The mother ship's impact knocked out the barrier!"

"Oh! So that's how it happened!" Mario concluded.

"Eh? What's that?" Baby Mario noticed something on the floor at the right side and picked it up. It looked like a black necklace with a blue pendant gemstone of some kind.

"Hey! Isn't that Veronica's necklace?" Young Tails guessed.

"It is! So she was here!" Baby Mario confirmed as he puts the necklace in his pocket.

"Yeah, but… Aren't you forgetting something?" Baby Luigi directed them to the crashed mother ship.

"Oh yeah…" Young Sonic sweatdropped as they stared at the ship.

Just then, the ship's cockpit opened up. A small moment of silence occurred.

"Uh…ANYBODY?!" Baby Mario called out, but nothing came out of the ship.

"Hey, why don't you go check it out?" Baby Luigi suggested as he pushes Luigi towards the ship.

"H-H-Hey! What are you doing?!" Luigi panicked. "No way!" he got free from the pushing and ran behind Baby Luigi.

"PLEASE!" Baby Luigi pleaded and went behind Luigi to push him again.

"I said no!" Luigi ran behind Baby Luigi again.

"PLEEEEEEAAAASE!" Baby Luigi pleaded again loudly. He went behind Luigi again and pleaded more: "PLEEEEEEAAAASE!"

"Sorry, but I can't do it!" Luigi stuttered. "Mario! You go check out!"

"What? Me?" Mario questioned.

"Yeah! Do it! I'm tired of waiting!" Baby Mario threw in.

"Alright." Mario nodded as he walks slowly towards the ship. He looks behind first before turning back and approaching more slowly. As soon as he looks at the opened dome…

" ***#()% &$!" **

"WAH!" Princess Shroob's yell startles the heroes as they jumped back.

From the dome, Princess Shroob comes out while sitting on her throne.

"P-Princess Shroob!" Peach gasped.

"(NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!) **"** Princess Shroob yelled at them furiously. **"** (YOU'RE USELESS NOW, PEACH! TIME TO FINISH YOU!) **"**

"Peach! Run!" Mario warned her.

"(YOU CANNOT ESCAPE! THIS KINGDOM IS MINE! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL! DESTROY!) **"**

"It's time to end her for good, guys!" Sonic said with determination as he and the rest of the heroes stood in their fighting stances.

Princess Shroob sent out two guns from her throne and made them shot lasers at the heroes, but they dodged them. Sonic then Home Attacsk her, but she created a force field around her, blocking Sonic's Homing Attack.

"Hey! That's not fair!" he growled.

"You'll pay for that!" Young Sonic Spin Jumps angrily at the force field, and its color suddenly changed from blue to green.

"Wait! If we keep attacking the force field, it might break!" Tails pointed out.

"Then let's do it!" Mario exclaimed as he and Baby Mario stomped on the force field, followed up by both Tailses' arm cannon blasts, and the force field turns yellowish-orange.

Princess Shroob tries to attack the heroes again with lasers, but they dodged them again, giving a chance for both Luigis to stomp the force field, turning it red.

Just then, Princess Shroob flew back and came back with her throne equipped with long cyber-like legs and it walked above the heroes. Princess Shroob commands a cannon to shoot ring blasts at them, but they jumped over the rings as they were shrinking. Princess Shroob did a cackle before commanding her throne to slam on them, but the babies countered it with their hammers, and that also caused the force field to shatter.

Because of that, Princess Shroob had no choice but to fight them without any protection. But before the heroes could attack her, she teleports towards each of them to send out a pink ball of energy from her hands. The babies sent the balls back with their hammers, Sonic Home Kicks some other balls, and the Tailses whacked the rest with their tails. However, Princess Shroob was able to teleport to avoid the balls being sent back by the heroes.

"Damn it! She's so annoying to beat!" Sonic growled.

"Copy Flower!" Mario pulls out the Copy Flower, multiplying himself, Luigi and the babies into multiple copies and each of them begin to stomp on Princess Shroob's head.

But then, after ten clones made their stomping, Princess Shroob managed to made all of them disappear by sending out a spinning pink star at them.

"Golly! She's so tough!" Luigi exclaimed in surprise.

"Even the Copy Flower wasn't enough… Now what?" Mario questioned.

"GUYS!" suddenly, a familiar voice came in and at the same time, Princess Shroob was frozen in place.

"What the-?!" Young Sonic's eyes widened.

The heroes turned around and saw…

"Veronica!" they exclaimed. She flew towards them and she wasn't wearing her necklace on her neck.

"Sorry for the long wait! I managed to escape from the Cobalt Star's grasp! So I'm back here to help you!" she said.

"Oh yeah!" Baby Luigi cheered.

"So, how do we beat Princess Shroob?" Young Tails asked.

"Simple. The Shroobs are weak against fire and ice. If you combine fire and ice at the same time, this can be deadly for them!" Veronica explained.

"Got it!" Mario grinned while nodding. He then turns to Luigi. "Luigi!"

"Okey Dokey!" Luigi grinned back as the brothers pulled out their Fire and Ice Flowers.

The Marios absorbed the Fire Flower while the Luigis absorbed the Ice Flower. Upon their transformation, they charged up their fire and ice balls from their palms before sending them at Princess Shroob. As Veronica's magic on her wears off, Princess Shroob screeched in defeat and collapses on the floor.

"Now we must hurry and escape this place!" Veronica demanded.

"Yes, we should!" Peach nodded.

But when they reached the middle of the room, the Cobalt Star came in and flew next to them.

"Look! That… That's the almost-whole Cobalt Star you've been looking for!" Peach exclaimed.

"Glad it's back! Come here!" Luigi tries to reach for the Cobalt Star, but it flew out of his reach.

Then, the Cobalt Star began to slowly fly towards…Baby Mario?

"Eh?" he blinked. The Star tries to get closer to him as he backs away. "Oookay… This is creeping me out! What do you want from me?"

"Look... Baby Mario… Do you happen to have my necklace?" Veronica asked.

"What? Oh, yes! I have!" Baby Mario took out Veronica's necklace from his pocket. With that, the Cobalt Star began to react to it. "But what does your necklace has to do with the Cobalt Star?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you see…" Veronica started. "The pendent of my necklace is actually the final shard of the Cobalt Star."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Sonic's eyes widened. "So you had the final shard all along?!"

"Yes." Veronica nodded. "With this final piece, the Cobalt Star will regain its original shape."

"Sweet!" Baby Mario detaches the Cobalt Shard out of the necklace. "Let's unite it, then!" he begins to lean towards the Cobalt Star to insert the last piece, and for some reason, Peach and Veronica looked horrified by that.

Suddenly, just as Baby Mario was about to insert the last shard…

"NO!" Baby Luigi stopped him by shielding the Cobalt Star in front of his brother. All of the boys had huge question marks over their heads.

"Huh?! Luigi?!" Baby Mario didn't expect that. "Why?"

"B-B-Because… BECAUSE-…!"

"BWAH HAH HAH!" Baby Luigi was interrupted when they suddenly heard Baby Bowser's laugh.

"What the-… NO! AGAIN?!" Sonic didn't believe that.

In an instant, Baby Bowser dropped down from the ceiling, knocking down Baby Mario to the ground and even snatched the Cobalt Shard from him.

"Big bro!" Baby Luigi cried out.

"If you thought I'd given up on getting my treasure back, you're dumber than you look!" Baby Bowser smirked. "All the time I spent hiding and waiting is gonna pay off in a big, BIG way! I'm taking all the treasures for myself! They're all MINE!" he then jumps to insert the last Cobalt Shard into the Cobalt Star.

"DON'T!" Peach, Veronica and Baby Luigi called out in horror.

Baby Bowser, of course, didn't listen to them and inserts the final piece, completing the Cobalt Star. Just then, Princess Shroob came in crawling weakly and said her final words:

"(NOW IT'S YOUR TURN… SIS…TER!) **"** She then exploded for good.

All of a sudden, the Cobalt Star send out purple lightning bolts while hovering around, freaking out everyone, including Baby Bowser.

"Wha-What's going on?!" Baby Bowser panicked.

Unfortunately, one of the lightning bolts managed to strike Baby Bowser, turning him into a Shroob Mushroom too!

"B-Baby Bowser?!" Young Tails flinched.

The Cobalt Star calms down and flies in front of the group.

"WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED?!" Luigi questioned horrified.

"Oh… Oh no…" Veronica whimpered.

"Luigi, you were going to say something to us, right?" Baby Mario stated. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Well, umm…" Baby Luigi stood in front of the boys looking crestfallen and placing his hands behind his back. "You see… Back at Star Hill where I cried when I looked at the Cobalt Star's spirit… Veronica told me about the real secret hidden in the Star once I calmed down. I promised her to keep this a secret."

"Seriously?" Baby Mario's eyes widened.

"Mmhm…" Baby Luigi nodded. "In truth… That Cobalt Star… There was… There was another Shroob princess inside it!"

"Wait, really?" Mario asked in surprise. "So that sketch… Could it be…?"

"That's right! Princess Shroob… HAS A TWIN SISTER!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" all of the boys except Baby Luigi yelled in shock.

"You've explained enough, Baby Luigi. Now let me finish the rest." Veronica placed her hand on Baby Luigi's shoulder as she flies in front of the boys now. "Everyone… Let me tell you what really happened back then…" she begins: "When Princess Peach arrived in this time period, Princess Shroob immediately attacked her… So she sent me from Hollijolli Village to protect her."

The Cobalt Star began to turn into a colored orb as Veronica continues:

"Once at the castle, I instantly grabbed the time machine's power source, the Cobalt Star, and I trapped Princess Shroob inside it, then shattered it. Yes… I was the one who broke the Cobalt Star, not Princess Shroob. Before fleeing to the present, I took one of the Shards with me, which became my necklace I've been wearing throughout this whole adventure. That's when I met you."

"And it was then…" Peach continued. "…that the younger Shroob princess surprised and captured me."

"So yeah… Gathering all of the Cobalt Star shards gave the elder Princess Shroob all of her power back!" Veronica finished.

"Wait a minute… So THAT'S why you were acting so hesitant when we were gathering the Cobalt Shards!" Tails concluded.

"That's absolutely correct." Veronica nodded. "I never wanted to gather the Cobalt Shards with you at all! But because you were so focused on rescuing Princess Peach, I had no choice…" she lamented. "And even if I told you the secret at the beginning, you wouldn't believe me!"

"Hold on, are you telling us that the real reason why the Shroobs kidnapped Peach…" Mario started.

"…is because they decided to use her as bait to lure you guys into this journey!" Veronica finished, making the boys gasp. "The Shroobs knew that Peach getting kidnapped was your main priority for going on an adventure, so they decided to use this strategy for their advantage and trick you!"

"Dang it! Those Shroobs REALLY played a smart move on us!" Sonic growled under his breath. "I seriously can't believe we fell for it that easily!"

"And in addition, the Shroobs tricked us not once, but TWICE!" Young Sonic threw in.

"But now…it's too late." Peach lamented.

Then, the colorful orb morphed into the Elder Princess Shroob, who landed on the ground and caused the heroes to jump. She roared as she spoke:

"I LAUGH AT YOU. MUSHROOM AND ANIMAL HEADS. PATHETIC THINGS. YOU GATHERED THE COBALT SHARDS WITHOUT EVER GUESSING THE TRUTH! NOW I AM FREE! AND THAT HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE COBALT STAR IS NO MORE! I FEAR NOTHING NOW! DO YOU HEAR ME? NOTHING!"

"No… So the identity of the spirit we spoke to up on Star Hill... It was actually the Shroob princess who was trapped inside it! Travesty!" Stuffwell said in unbelief.

"I WILL GIVE YOU A SPECIAL REWARD FOR SETTING ME FREE. YOU WILL LOVE IT." Elder Princess Shroob smirked.

"Uh oh… I did not like the sound of that…" Luigi gulped.

"AND MY SISTER… MY DEAR, SWEET, BEAUTIFUL SISTER… I WILL AVENGE HER!"

Just then, the middle platform began to rise up, taking everyone to the skies above Shroob Castle. It was filled with thunderclouds sending out pink lightning bolts.

" **)(! )()(! )()()()()(!"** Elder Princess Shroob spoke.

"What have we done?" Young Tails whimpered.

"Fear not, dear heroes. Even if Elder Princess Shroob is free, we can still take her out." Veronica encouraged. "I'll always be on your side. You were the nicest friends I've ever met."

"Thanks a lot, Veronica!" Sonic gave thumbs up.

"All right, let's do this!" Mario said with determination as everyone stood in their fighting stances. The final battle was about to unfold…

Four Shroob Saucers flew up into the air above the heroes. Before they could even attack them, a familiar voice came:

"Heroes!" it was from Melissa.

"Melissa?" Mario's eyes widened as she descends from the heavens and landed next to the heroes.

"I came all the way down from the Star Realm to help." Melissa said. "After all, I've told you we would see each other again, haven't I?" she smiled. "Now, Mario and Luigi from the past…" she turned to the babies before summoning a star from her palm. "Send this star up there to knock out the UFOs!"

"Okey Dokey!" Baby Mario grinned as he and Baby Luigi took out their hammers.

Melissa tossed the star to the babies and they knocked it into the air, hitting the Shroob Saucers, causing them to crash into Elder Princess Shroob.

Angered, Elder Princess Shroob came back with a Shroobfied Chain Chomp and sent it to attack the heroes, but they jumped over it and Sonic stomped it to send it away, before attacking Elder Princess Shroob with a Surprise Attack.

More Shroob Saucers came in and two of them carried Elder Princess Shroob to the air, where she sent out energy blasts at the heroes. They avoided them by jumping. Elder Princess Shroob came back down and stomped the ground, creating a shockwave. The heroes jumped over the shockwave, and Elder Princess Shroob did a roar before charging at both Tailses.

"Plasma Cannon: Bomb Mode!" Tails fired bombs from his arm cannon at Elder Princess Shroob, and she was sent backwards after the bombs exploded on her. "Quick! Let's attack her!" he warned.

Young Tails fired plasma blasts from his arm cannon, followed up by Mario and Luigi's stomp. Young Sonic then attacked her next with his Fire Shield dash.

"Wow! You had your shields with you?" Sonic asked in surprise.

"Yep!" Young Sonic nodded.

"Cool! Now it's my turn!" Sonic grinned as he does his Burning Spin Dash at the Elder Princess Shroob.

Both fire attacks made the Elder Princess Shroob roar in pain. That's when Baby Luigi remembered:

"Hey! Remember that Veronica told us that fire and ice are the Shroobs' main weakness?"

"That's it! Let's use our Fire and Ice Flowers again!" Mario said.

"NO LETTING THAT!" Elder Princess Shroob yelled as the Shroob Saucers brought a huge purple meteor, holding it with her arms above her head and threw it at the heroes' direction…until it stopped in place. "WHAT?!" Elder Princess Shroob didn't expect that.

"Did you forget about me?" Veronica smirked. "Do it, Mario Brothers!"

"Okey!" the four brothers nodded as they absorbed the Fire and Ice Flowers. This time, the Marios absorbed the Ice Flower, and the Luigis absorbed the Fire Flower. They charged their fire and ice balls, preparing to throw them at the Elder Princess Shroob.

"CURSE YOU, VERONICA!" Elder Princess Shroob yelled as she was getting hit by the fire and ice balls. After that, she collapses on the ground.

"That's it?" Sonic questioned.

"I'm getting a feeling that it's not over yet…" Veronica suspected as she turned to the heroes. All of a sudden, two purple tentacles came in and tied her! " ***loud gasp*** " she gasped. Turns out that Elder Princess Shroob was the one who grabbed her and pulled her close.

"OF COURSE… YOU ARE THE FAIRY WHO CONTROLS TIME. HOW SILLY OF ME." Elder Princess Shroob smirked. "WITH YOUR POWERS, I SHALL… CONSUME EVERYTHING!" she begins to absorb Veronica's powers with her tentacles.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Veronica screamed in pain as her energy was being sucked away.

"VERONICA!" the rest of the group shouted in horror.

Once she felt like she had enough power, Elder Princess Shroob tossed the now unconscious Veronica back at the heroes.

"Veronica… No…!" Baby Luigi cried out.

Just then, a large amount of power began to surge in Elder Princess Shroob.

"YES… YES! THE POWER! THE POWER TO CONTROL TIME… IS MINE!" she cackled in glory as she was changing into a different form.

"The Elder Princess…is changing!" Melissa gasped.

"What in the world…?" Sonic was speechless.

Eventually, Elder Princess Shroob was covered with purple smoke. Once the smoke faded, it revealed that Elder Princess Shroob has changed dramatically: she was double the size she was before, and tentacles replaced her arms and feet.

"HOLY MOLY!" Luigi shouted in shock.

"She's HUGE!" Young Sonic flinched.

"NOW I'M THE ONE WHO CONTROLS THE FLOW OF TIME IN THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM!" Elder Princess Shroob shouted in glory. "THE PAST… THE PRESENT… THE FUTURE… AT LONG LAST…THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM… **IS MINE!** " a loud thunderstrike came as she spoke the last sentence, with the thunderclouds turning dark purple.

"Oh god…" Baby Luigi murmured while shaking a little.

"Now how are we going to beat her without Veronica?" Young Tails whimpered.

"Simple. Let's just attack her with fire and ice attacks to weaken her." Young Sonic stated.

Before going into the battle, Baby Mario dragged Veronica to Melissa and Peach.

"Please take care of her." He requested.

"We will." Peach nodded.

"We're all counting on you, heroes. Save the Mushroom Kingdom of the past, present and future." Melissa told him.

Baby Mario made a nod and went into battle. At last, this battle will decide the fate of the Mushroom Kingdom in all of its time periods.

Elder Princess Shroob spat out purple clouds of smoke from her mouth, but the heroes dodged them. She then came closer and used her four tentacles to stab the four adults. While Sonic and Tails were able to dodge, Mario and Luigi didn't dodge in time and fainted.

"Mario! Luigi!" Young Tails cried out.

"Hurry, little bro!" Baby Mario called out as he and Baby Luigi pulled out each a 1-Up Super and used it to revive the adult brothers.

"Ugh… That attack was a pain…" Luigi groaned as he got up.

"No kidding…" Mario agreed.

"Uh oh! Guys! Here comes another attack!" Tails warned.

Elder Princess Shroob stretched two of her leg tentacles and moved them around. The heroes dodged the tentacles by jumping as they approached them.

"Okay, where do we attack first?" Young Sonic asked.

"Let's try her legs!" Tails suggested.

"Got it!" Sonic replied as he and his younger self Spin Dashed at Elder Princess Shroob's leg tentacles.

Soon, more Shroob Saucers came in. Elder Princess Shroob fired a blast from her mouth at the Saucers. Oddly enough, some of them were catching fire, some were short-circuiting, some were dripping and the rest had smoke coming out.

"Wait a minute… Fire, electricity, drip, smoke blowing by the wind… That's it!" Mario snapped his fingers.

"What?" Sonic questioned.

"Remember our hand powers that we obtained from the Beanbean Kingdom? Those Saucers' states are mirroring our hand powers!"

"Oh! So you mean that…"

"…that I have to hit the ones catching fire, Luigi has to hit the ones short-circuiting, you have to hit the dripping ones and Tails has to hit the smoking ones!"

"That's it! Let's do this!"

With that, the heroes with the help of their younger selves hit the corresponding Saucers, sending them at Elder Princess Shroob. She then tried to attack the heroes with the tentacle spinning again, but she stretched three instead of two tentacles.

After dodging the tentacles, the heroes focused on attacking the leg tentacles. Young Tails shot blasts from his arm cannon, while Tails tries a new mode for his arm cannon.

"Plasma Cannon: Fire Mode!" he sends out a flamethrower from his arm cannon at the legs.

The Mario Bros used their Fire and Ice Flowers again and shot their fire and ice balls. This caused the leg tentacles from Elder Princess Shroob to turn gray and she was unable to move.

She did another roar and attacks with her arm tentacles at the heroes again, but they dodged them. However, they weren't expecting the tentacles to tie them up next.

"GAAAH! Let us go!" Young Sonic growled as everyone struggles to get free.

Then, just before Elder Princess Shroob was able to attack the heroes, a shooting star came out of nowhere and cut her tentacles, freeing the heroes. They looked back and saw that it was Melissa who sent out the shooting star.

"Melissa!" the heroes exclaimed.

"Heroes! Aim for her crown! Veronica's powers are stored there!" Melissa warned.

The heroes nodded in response and prepared to attack the crown. Just then, Elder Princess Shroob charged out a giant purple orb of energy and sent it at the heroes to prevent them for attacking her crown. They attempted to hit it back at Elder Princess Shroob, but the energy ball was too strong and none of their attacks worked.

"WHOOOOOAAA!" they screamed as they were sent into the air upon being hit by the energy ball. They landed back on the ground, but suffered a lot of damage.

"Oh no! This is bad! We have to do something!" Peach whimpered.

"You're right, but how?" Melissa asked.

"…combine…fire…and…ice…" Veronica suddenly groaned weakly.

"Veronica? You're alive?" Peach's eyes widened.

"Yes, she was only unconscious." Melissa replied. "Okay, we know that Shroobs are weak to fire and ice, but the Mario Brothers had used them at the same time and it didn't do much damage. What exactly are you talking about, Veronica?" she asked.

"…the…actual…way…to…defeat…the…Shroobs…is…with…the…Mix…Flower…" Veronica responded.

"The Mix Flower?" Peach asked.

"…use…your…star…power…to…combine…the…Fire…and…Ice…Flowers…"

"Combine the Fire Flower and the Ice Flower? In that case…" Melissa turned to the brothers and called them: "MARIO! LUIGI!"

The four brothers heard Melissa's call and turned around. "Hm?" they did.

"Come here to us! We know how to defeat Elder Princess Shroob!" Melissa told them.

"Right!" Mario nodded. He first turned around and told Sonic: "Sonic! You and the rest distract Elder Princess Shroob while we head to Melissa!"

"Leave it to us!" Sonic gave thumbs up. Mario returned the thumbs up before he, Luigi and their younger selves went to Melissa and Peach.

"Mario Brothers, take out your Fire and Ice Flowers." Melissa said. "We'll combine them into the weapon that will defeat Elder Princess Shroob for good."

The brothers nodded and took out the Fire and Ice Flowers, handing them to Melissa and Peach. Melissa took the Ice Flower while Peach took the Fire Flower. Both princesses moved the flowers next to each other as Melissa spoke:

"Now, let us do our work…"

Melissa closed her eyes and concentrates. With that, a golden aura surrounded Peach as the brothers watched in awe. The gold aura went into the flowers and they were surrounded in a bright light. Once the light faded, it showed that the flowers were magically merged into one: a sun-shaped orange and yellow flower.

"Whoa…" Luigi was amazed.

"This here is the Mix Flower." Melissa explained. "Take it. Use it to destroy Elder Princess Shroob once and for all."

The four nodded and Mario took the Mix Flower. "Ready?" he asked Baby Mario, Baby Luigi and Luigi. They all nodded in response with determined looks. "Mix Flower!" he rose the flower into the air for them to absorb its power.

Of course, the Mix Flower changed the color of their clothes: Mario and Baby Mario's cap and shirt were yellow and their overalls were black. Luigi and Baby Luigi's cap and shirt became orange with their overalls turning green. They became Mix Mario and Baby Mario and Mix Luigi and Baby Luigi.

Mix Mario first shot fireballs to create a large fireball in the sky above Elder Princess Shroob. Next, Mix Luigi, Mix Baby Mario and Mix Baby Luigi shot ice balls at the fireball, making it enlarge. The Mix brothers continued their fire and ice balls build up to send them at the large fireball until the fireball was huge. Eventually, the huge fireball fell and exploded right on Elder Princess Shroob's head, destroying her crown.

"W-WHAT?! NO!" Elder Princess Shroob felt the power of time emerging out of her. "THE POWER!" she began to shrink down and her tentacles became arms and legs again. At the same time, the Mix Flower's effect on the bros wears off. "FOOLISH MUSHROOM AND ANIMAL HEADS… WELL, YOU MAY HAVE BESTED ME, BUT SHROOBS WILL LIVE ON… ONE DAY, THE SHROOBS WILL DANCE ON THE BURIED REMAINS OF THIS PATHETIC KINGDOM…" she said her last words before eventually becoming a Shroob Mushroom.

"Well, then…" Baby Luigi tilted his head. "Eh, let's just take it." He takes the Shroob Mushroom with him.

* * *

The battle seemed over…or doesn't…?

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **Stay tuned for this story's final chapter! Please review.  
**


	20. Past and Present at Peace

**And here's the last chapter!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **Final Chapter: Past and Present at Peace**

In Veronica's point of view, her eyes were slowly opening. However, her vision was all blurry and she could hear echoes of someone's voice. She could see a peach, red and blue blur in front of her. Once her vision cleared out, she noticed that it was Baby Mario who leaned down to her.

"…uhhhh…" she moaned as she puts her hand on her head.

"You okay, Veronica?" Baby Mario asked in concern.

Veronica slowly sat up and looked down at Baby Mario. She cracked a smile and responded softly: "Yes… I'm fine."

"Hee hee hee! For the first time, you didn't say I'm fine in a forced way!" Baby Mario giggled cutely.

"Oh, Baby Mario…" Veronica giggled.

"And you woke up just in time! The platform just took us back down!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Veronica! We won! We have defeated Elder Princess Shroob! And all thanks to your help!" Baby Luigi hugged her.

"Mario… Luigi… Sonic… Tails… Thank you." Peach thanked. "Thanks to you, the Mushroom Kingdom of this time is safe. I am so very, truly pleased…"

"No." Veronica shook her head. Unknown to everyone, the babies went over to the Shroobfied Baby Bowser just to have fun. "Not quite, princess. We still haven't got rid of the Shroob Mushrooms growing all around the kingdom; remember? And worst of all… I have no idea how to get rid of them."

"Oh no…" Melissa whimpered.

"What do we do now?" Young Tails asked in sadness.

"Hold on, where is Baby Mario and Baby Luigi?" Young Sonic questioned.

Then, they heard Baby Luigi's giggles coming from their right. They turned to the right and saw Baby Luigi bouncing on the Shroobfied Baby Bowser while Baby Mario watches him.

"Wheee! Hahahahaha! This is so fun!" Baby Luigi cheered.

"Oh my… You were right, Veronica." Peach remarked. "Even with Elder Princess Shroob defeated, the foul work of the Shroobs still covers our land…"

"This looks so fun! Hey! Luigi! Let me join in too!" Baby Mario prepares to jump on the Shroob Mushroom. "Here I come!"

Unfortunately, instead of landing on the mushroom, Baby Mario accidentally lands on Baby Luigi, causing him to cry in pain.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Baby Luigi wailed out loud.

" ***gasp*** oh I'm so sorry, little bro! I didn't mean to do that!" Baby Mario realized his mistake and apologized while hugging Baby Luigi.

"Huh? Hey! Look!" Tails noticed something on the mushroom.

As more tears from the crying Baby Luigi fell on the mushroom, Baby Bowser began to slowly change back to his former self!

"Muuuurgh…" Baby Bowser groaned.

"Ah! The mushroom…" Veronica's eyes widened. "Could it be… Babies' tears…"

* * *

 _ **A while later, back at the present…**_

"The Hydrogush… FIRE IT UP!" E. Gadd said as he pushes the machine's button to get the water filled with the same substance as baby tears to flow from its long rubber tube, now connected to several others. The water gushed into all of the castle's Time Holes and it came into the past as giant geysers, spilling it around all of the locations visited by our heroes.

The water rained at past Toad Town, removing all of the Shroob Mushrooms growing around and restoring all of the Shroobfied Toads back to normal. And at Star Shrine, even Amy and Kylie were restored back to normal, and in an instant, a white glow surrounded Amy and she disappeared, but not before she waved to Kylie.

"The liquid the Hydrogush is sprouting has the same chemical makeup as the babies' tears! Spraying it across the kingdom oughta cure all of those Shroob mushrooms!" E. Gadd exclaimed. "I am plumb astounded… The fearsome Shroobs laid low by baby tears…"

When all of the Shroob Mushrooms were eliminated, all of the Time Holes in the castle began to vanish.

* * *

Back at the past, we can see Kamek bringing Baby Bowser back to his castle by dragging him with his Clown Cart with his flying broom.

"My treasure…" Baby Bowser lamented.

"Prince Bowser… Please, let it go." Kamek grumbled.

The scene shifts back to the heroes and Veronica stepped in front of them to do her magic.

"Now, everyone… It's time to head back to your own time." Veronica said as she works on her Time Travelling magic.

"You're right. The Toadsworths must be beside themselves with worry again." Luigi remarked.

"Well, I guess it's goodbye for me now." Melissa told them. "But thanks to my immortality, I shall live on even at your time. And that means we'll be able to see each other again, but at the present instead!"

"That's nice! We hope we could see you again in our time, Melissa!" Mario waved as the group disappeared in a bright white light with Melissa waving back. She then flew back to her castle at the Star Realm.

* * *

After the ride in the portal, the group returned back to the present safely, where they were greeted by the many Toads, E. Gadd, Toadsworth and even Amy.

"You're back!" Amy exclaimed.

"Amy? But how…?" Sonic was surprised to see Amy back to normal and brought back at the present.

"Heh heh heh heh…" E. Gadd chuckled. "Furry feller… As soon as I got the information from Stuffwell, I put our plan into action. The rain of baby tears hit the Shroob 'shrooms, and they melted immediately! Success!"

"All right!" all of the boys cheered.

"And that takes care of every last trace of the nastiful Shroobs! Happies!" Stuffwell exclaimed in happiness.

"I'm glad it's finally over!" Amy squealed.

"Yep!" E. Gadd nodded. "Phew… So much cleaning… Actually, there's something interesting to see here in the castle…"

"Really?" the heroes tilted their heads in curiosity.

"Perhaps it might be good for us to check it out." Veronica stated as she, the Sonics and the Tailses went inside, while the Marios and the Luigis stayed a bit to hear Toadsworth's conversation. "Aren't you coming?" Veronica asked the brothers.

"You can go on ahead. We'll meet you later." Mario told her as she flies back.

"Princess! Oh, my dear Princess! You're safe at last!" Toadsworth exclaimed in relief.

"Thank you. We owe Mario, his friends and the kids a great debt." Peach said.

"Peach! Please come this way." Amy called her as they and Toadsworth left.

"Uhh… Am I hearing things or the princess didn't mention me at all?" Luigi's eyes widened.

And it even got worse when a group of Toads gathered around Mario and appraised him:

"Mario! Welcome home!"

"You're the best, Mario!"

"It was you after all, Mario!"

"Way to go, Mario!"

"YEAH, MARIO!" all of the Toads cheered in unison. "WELCOOOME BAAACK!"

Luigi was speechless. But not for too long until he heard a Toad from behind appraising:

"Good work, Luigi!"

This caught Luigi's attention and the Toad came to him and said:

"It was nice of you to go into the past to greet Mario. But you know, you can't shirk your house-sitting duties."

"What?" Luigi raised an eyebrow.

"Heh heh heh… Just kidding!" the Toad chuckled. "Welcome back, Luigi!" he then spoke quietly: "Ready, set…"

"HEYYYY, LUIIIIGI!" all of the Toads cheered. "WELCOOOME BAAACK!"

"Yeah!" Luigi cheered.

"Now let's go meet with the rest in the castle." Mario said. Luigi and the babies nodded and they went in.

* * *

As soon as they entered the throne room, both Toadsworths came to them.

"Oho! You've saved the princess and the kingdom!" Young Toadsworth exclaimed. "Well done, dear fellows!"

"You're welcome, Toadsworth!" Baby Mario replied.

"Master Mario… Master Luigi… Young Master Mario… Young Master Luigi… From the bottom of my heart, I thank you and your friends for rescuing our Princess Peach." Toadsworth thanked. "Please come this way, sirs. There's a favor I must ask of all of you…" as the group follows both Toadsworths, Toadsworth spoke quietly to himself: "And now, at long last… I must bid farewell to my younger, exuberant self."

"Hmph! It's as if you can't wait to be rid of me, you old Toad." Young Toadsworth scolded quietly back to his older self.

"Yes, er… What an overactive imagination you possess!"

"What are they discussing about?" Baby Luigi whispered to Baby Mario.

"No idea." Baby Mario whispered back.

"Well, well, well! Look who we have here!" Sonic smirked once the brothers and the Toadsworths reached the end of the throne room.

"Did you mean the Mario Brothers or Bowser, me?" Young Sonic smirked at him.

"Pffft! Oh, please! Isn't it obvious? I'm referencing this big guy here!" Sonic directed to Bowser.

"Huh?!" the four Mario Bros were surprised to see Bowser lying unconscious in the middle of the room.

"What is Bowser doing here?" Luigi asked.

"We actually have the same question as yours, Luigi." Amy admitted.

"Will somebody please tell me how this happened?" Peach asked.

"Apparently he fell from up high and landed in a time hole…" Toadsworth explained. "Then he just plopped into the castle's backyard!"

"Yeah, since then, he's just lain there like a lump." Toad said.

"Master Mario, is there nothing you can do? Perhaps jump on him or some such thing?" Toadsworth asked.

"Hm..." Mario pondered.

"Leave it to me!" Baby Mario interfered as he approaches Bowser and stomps on his head. However, his stomp wasn't as strong as Mario's and that just left a puff of smoke. Luigi just went next to Bowser's face and sat down.

As Baby Mario continues to stomp Bowser, suddenly, Baby Luigi felt something moving out of his pocket and the Shroobfied Elder Princess Shroob came out!

"Eh? How…?" Baby Luigi didn't see that coming.

"Ah, Baby Luigi, what is that grotesque mushroom?" Young Toadsworth asked as he went to Baby Luigi.

"It's supposed to be Elder Princess Shroob's remains, but…"

Before Baby Luigi could finish, the mushroom began to float in midair.

" **(%..."** just then, Elder Princess Shroob's faint voice came from it, catching everyone's attention.

"Isn't that…? Oh no…" Veronica whimpered in fear.

They watched the mushroom fly into Bowser's mouth. He munches on it, and…

"SHNARFL?" he gagged, making everyone gasp. Their eyes widened even more when Bowser opened his eyes, but they were magenta instead of white. "BLAARGH!" all of a sudden, the whole room was covered in purple mist as everyone was freaking out. Once the mist cleared, Bowser was now standing up and his body was flashing in purple and cyan.

"What just happened?!" Peach panicked.

"The Elder Shroob Princess is possessing Bowser!" Veronica told her. "He's not Bowser anymore! He's Shrowser!"

"Hurry! We must flee!" Amy called out as she, Peach and both Toadsworths fled out of the throne room.

"Guys! I'll be at your side again!" Veronica flew to the heroes, who were now standing in front of Shrowser.

"Mmm… I can feel a power burning in my belly!" Shrowser smirked. "What in the world did you feed me?" he stomps the ground, creating an earthquake, sending the heroes in the air before landing back down. "GWAH HAH HAH HAH!" Shrowser laughed evilly. "Aw, who cares what it was? I've been reborn!"

"Come on, guys! Let's beat him!" Young Sonic said. "For good, this time!"

"Yeah!" the rest of the heroes nodded and went into their fighting stances.

"Mario! Sonic! Tails! Green 'Stache! And you brats, too! NO MERCY FOR YOU!" Shrowser roared. It was now time for the REAL final battle: to eliminate Elder Princess Shroob for the last time!

Shrowser sent out purple smokes from his mouth, creating the spirit of Elder Princess Shroob above the room.

"T-That's her spirit!" Veronica gasped.

"Hey! Listen here!" Shrowser called out. "From now on, you guys get NO chance to attack! I'm gonna flatten you with an attack barrage, baby! Enjoy! Bwah ha!"

"Oh great… We won't be even able to attack!" Sonic growled.

"But we can try to counter his attacks instead and see what happens." Tails told him.

Shrowser spat out flashing purple fireballs at the heroes, but they dodged them. Then, Veronica noticed the fireballs heading towards Elder Princess Shroob's spirit, and they hit her.

"Hey! That's it, everyone!" she confirmed. "You'll just have to dodge and counter attacks so that we can damage the spirit of Elder Princess Shroob!"

"So it's just a defensive play? Great!" Young Tails exclaimed.

"We can do this!" Mario encouraged.

"Since I won't be able to use my magic in this fight, then I'll leave the rest to you. Good luck!" Veronica flew back to watch the four heroes and their younger selves do the rest.

Shrowser next spat out more fireballs, but these ones took off into the air like rockets before coming down at Baby Mario and Baby Luigi. The babies used their hammers to knock the incoming fireballs right at Elder Princess Shroob's spirit.

"Nothing like good ol' hammers!" Baby Mario grinned.

"Yeah!" Baby Luigi exclaimed.

Shrowser spat out an orb of energy at them next. Then, both Tailses nodded to each other before they whacked the orb at the spirit with their tails.

"We make a great team!" Young Tails high-fives his older self.

"You did great, me!" Tails replied.

"Hey, Turtle Breath! We bet you can't hit us!" Sonic taunted to call Shrowser's attention.

"Yeah! Your attacks are so slow that even a simple turtle can dodge them!" Young Sonic teased.

"Why you little…" Shrowser growled as he spits out a larger version of the energy orb at both Sonics.

The Sonics looked at each other and ran in opposite directions to avoid the orb, only for it to split in half and both halves begun to chase after the Sonics.

"Keep running!" Sonic called out to his younger self.

They ran around the room in a circle pattern until they got close and summoned their springs to send them into the air and passed by each other while high-fiving, which confused the orbs' trajectory and both of them hit Elder Princess Shroob's spirit.

"Awesome!" Young Sonic bro-fists his older self.

"Hey, great job!" Sonic replied.

"You're doing great, boys! The spirit seems weaker now; that means you're almost there!" Veronica warned them.

"THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA END YOU RIGHT NOW!" Shrowser yelled furiously and spat out two HUGE fireballs at Mario and Luigi.

The adult brothers did a nod to each other and prepared to make their attack.

"Just to let you know, Bowser! You're not the king of Awesomeness; you're the king of Suckiness!" Mario smirked. "Buh-bye!" he finished as he and Luigi did a bicycle kick at both fireballs, sending them at Elder Princess Shroob's spirit.

"Hungh?!" Shrowser began to feel strange. "WARGH! What?!" he yelled as Elder Princess Shroob's spirit exploded in a puff of purple smoke. With that, Bowser collapses on the ground, unconscious.

"Wow! That was a nice teasing!" Sonic appraised.

"Thanks." Mario thanked.

"Woohoo! We did it!" Baby Mario cheered. The rest cheered with him as well.

* * *

 _ **Soon…**_

Everyone gathered at the castle's garden, ready to say their goodbyes.

"Elder Toadsworth… We've had our share of disagreements, but… Now that the time is nigh, I find it rather difficult to say farewell." Young Toadsworth admitted.

"Younger me… Please take good care of the little princess and the little mistress!" Toadsworth requested.

Then, Baby Peach started to cry for attention.

"Oh, poor me… She wants attention, doesn't she?" Peach spoke as she walked towards her younger self and picked her up. "Shh… Shh… Don't cry." She pats Baby Peach's back to calm her down. Once she was calm, Peach took a good look at her. "My, I was really cute when I was young!" she smiled and hugged her baby self.

"Eee hee hee!" Baby Peach giggled cutely. Peach then places her gently back in her baby wagon.

"Now that you mentioned it, I was also cute when I was little too!" Amy squealed as she walked towards her younger self.

"So I'll be just like that when I grow up? Sweet!" Young Amy exclaimed. Amy then leans close to her and whispered in her ear:

"And remember, make sure you don't lose sight of Sonic ever!"

"I won't!" Young Amy whispered back.

"What are you two talking about?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing!" both Amys faked out, placing their hands behind their backs.

"Well, then…" he shrugs it off and looked at his younger self. "I had a lot of fun adventuring with my younger self! I'll admit!" he grinned.

"I had fun too! Even if I doubted it at the beginning, it was really cool meeting my future self!" Young Sonic grinned back.

"I hope you learned a few tricks from me that'll help you out in the future."

"You bet I have! Check this out!"

Young Sonic ran a bit and attempted to do a Boost while airbone, but he stopped in the middle of the technique and fell to the ground.

"Dang it… I guess I'll have to practice more." Young Sonic said quite depressed.

"Dude, sweet!" Sonic clapped. "And you're only going to get better."

"You say so? Thanks, Sonic!"

"Heh! No problem, Sonic!"

Then, they both high-fived each other.

"Well, enjoy your future! It's going to be great!" Sonic exclaimed.

"I can't wait!" Young Sonic gave thumbs up, with his older self returning the thumbs up.

"So… Will I be a great inventor once I grow up?" Young Tails asked.

"Of course! And you'll love it!" Tails answered. "Just…make sure you don't get into too much trouble in the future."

"Oh, just like the Star Gate told you?"

"Uh, yeah… Oh! And make sure you also help Sonic and his friends a lot and practice your flying too!"

"I promise!" then, something came into Young Tails' mind and he asks: "And what about all of the rings Sonic collects? Do you know how many he collects all the time?"

Tails leaned to him and whispered in his ear, causing his eyes to widen: "He collects how many? Wow, where does somebody put all those gold rings?"

"You know what? I don't know. I keep forgetting to ask." Tails admitted.

Young Tails then flew with his two tails before double high-fiving his older self.

"Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Young Sonic, Young Tails… Thank you for rescuing me and saving the kingdom." Peach thanked them. "Please look after my and Amy's younger selves and Young Toadsworth."

"You can count on us, princess!" Young Tails exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Baby Mario, Baby Luigi and Young Sonic nodded.

Baby Mario then walked to his older self, who looks at him.

"I guess this is goodbye, right?" Baby Mario asked quite saddened.

"Yes… It's quite sad, really." Mario lamented.

"Yeah… But no matter what, I'll always remember this adventure, even when I grow up!" Baby Mario exclaimed. Then, something came on his mind: "Oh! Before I go, here's something from me to say thanks." He hands Mario his hammer.

"You sure you want to give it to me?" Mario asked.

"Well, to be honest, I've always wanted to wield a hammer, but I'm too young for this right now. After all, even Sonic said so!" Baby Mario answered as he looks at Young Sonic at the last sentence, who winked at him. "Plus…" Baby Mario looked back at Mario. "I want you to keep this as some sort of souvenir or if possible, wield it for your next adventure!"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Mario exclaimed. He then takes the hammer and puts it into his pocket. "Thank you very much-… Wah!" he startled when Baby Mario suddenly jumped and hugged him. Mario did a small chuckle and returned the hug.

"Take care, older me." Baby Mario smiled once he broke from the hug, with Mario holding him by his waist.

"You too." Mario smiled back and placed Baby Mario on the floor.

"Do we really need to say goodbye?" Baby Luigi asked saddened; he really didn't want to leave his adult self.

"We need. I know it's sad, but we have to stay in each of our own eras." Luigi answered.

Tears began to appear in Baby Luigi's eyes, and he jumped on his older self, hugging him and sobbing on his shoulder.

"WAAAAAAAAH! I DON'T WANT TO GO! I'LL MISS YOU SO MUCH!" Baby Luigi wailed out loud.

"Shh… There… There, younger me…" Luigi pets his younger self's head to calm him down. "I'll miss you as well. But on the good side, we'll always remember everything from this adventure we had!" he pulls away from the hug and held Baby Luigi by his waist.

" ***sniff*** really?" Baby Luigi asked while still sobbing a little.

"Mmhm!" Luigi nodded while smiling softly. This made Baby Luigi smile back. "Oh! I have something for you!" Luigi takes out a Yoshi Cookie from his pocket.

"Ooh! Yoshi Cookie! Yoshi Cookie!" Baby Luigi squealed. "Gimme! Gimme!"

"You don't even have to ask!" Luigi places Baby Luigi down and hands him the cookie. He watches his toddler self munching on the tasty cookie.

"Mmm… Thank you very much!" Baby Luigi thanked. "Since you gave me a gift, then I'll give mine too!" he takes out his hammer.

"You're giving me your hammer too? Thanks a lot!" Luigi thanked.

"No problem! Here you go- Oops!" Baby Luigi accidentally threw his hammer incorrectly and its head hit RIGHT on Luigi's head.

"Oooooooh…" Luigi got dizzy after the impact.

Baby Luigi couldn't handle his older self's googly eyes that he cracked a laugh.

"Are you okay, me?" he asked between his laugher.

Luigi shook his head to get rid of the dizziness and responded: "I'm fine…"

"Is everyone almost ready?" Veronica asked the young group.

"Yes!" they all responded.

"Alright, all of you gather near me."

The young group walked towards Veronica. That is, until Baby Mario remembered of something:

"Oh! I almost forgot!" he runs back and approached Peach. "Here, princess." He takes out her crown from his pocket and hands it to her.

"Oh, my crown!" Peach squealed as she takes her crown and puts it on her head. "Thank you so much, Baby Mario!" she gave a kiss on his cheek, causing him to blush a little.

Baby Mario then runs back to join up with the young group and told Veronica: "Okay, I'm ready!"

As Veronica works on her magic, the young group did their last goodbyes.

"My dear Princess Peach… You've grown so beautiful… I'm honored to have met you." Young Toadsworth said. "And Master Mario! Master Luigi! Master Sonic! Master Tails! Thanks ever so much! Do continue to take care of the princess and the mistress!"

"Boy, I feel like hopefully next year we'll be able to come back here and go on a vacation!" Baby Mario said to Baby Luigi.

"Sounds great to me, big bro!" he replied.

" _Hmm… A vacation, huh?_ " Veronica thought while smiling and placing her finger under her chin. " _Then I shall make your dream come true, young Mario Brothers!_ "

Then, the glow became thicker and the group was starting to disappear.

"Goodbye!" the four young heroes waved before finally disappearing.

Upon their younger selves' vanishing, Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, Peach, Amy and Toadsworth all had tears escaping from their eyes. But they all knew, that even parting ways, the memory of their time-travelling adventure…will never ever fade.

 **The End**

* * *

 **Boy, I was actually crying on the inside when writing the parting scene. That moment when past and future have to part ways... It's so sad! :'( I decided to use the same dialogue from Sonic and Tails from the ending scene of _Sonic Generations_ just for fun!**

 **Before the closing, did you catch all of the foreshadowing events that will happen in my future stories of this Saga? There's a total of three of those events in this story. For hints, the first one is at the very beginning of chapter 8, but that one's very obvious, the second and third ones are somewhere at the beginning and at the end of this chapter.**

 **Well, that wraps up the second story of this Saga! Thank you all so much for reading this. The next story after this one is, of course, Bowser's Inside Story! But sadly, Sonic and his friends won't appear at all in this next remake... Sorry about that. :( There will be more Mario characters showing up in this story, though, and if you played _Yoshi's Island DS_ , you might know who are going to appear. Also, that's the reason why I won't add Sonic and his friends in the next installment; because I'm using something that originated in _Yoshi's Island DS_ for this remake, adding Sonic characters in the middle would make my story very confusing and wouldn't make sense.**

 **I'll upload the first chapter of my _Bowser's Inside Story_ remake near the end of May, only. Fairy out! **


End file.
